Daily Rpt #4927

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to Collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT #4927

PERIOD COVERED: 5am September 9 - 5am September 10, 2009 (DOY 252/09:00z-253/09:00z)

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED

ACS/WFC3 11879

CCD Daily Monitor (Part 1)

This program comprises basic tests for measuring the read noise and
dark current of the ACS WFC and for tracking the growth of hot pixels.
The recorded frames are used to create bias and dark reference images
for science data reduction and calibration. This program will be
executed four days per week (Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun) for the duration of
Cycle 17. To facilitate scheduling, this program is split into three
proposals. This proposal covers 352 orbits (22 weeks) from 31 August
2009 to 31 January 2010.

STIS/CCD 11844

CCD Dark Monitor Part 1

The purpose of this proposal is to monitor the darks for the STIS CCD.

STIS/CCD 11846

CCD Bias Monitor-Part 1

The purpose of this proposal is to monitor the bias in the 1x1, 1x2,
2x1, and 2x2 bin settings at gain=1, and 1x1 at gain = 4, to build up
high-S/N superbiases and track the evolution of hot columns.

STIS/CCD/MA1 11623

Shaping the Pre-Supernova Circumstellar Environment

Recent discoveries of very luminous supernovae associated with
luminous blue variable- type objects (LBVs) raise the interesting
possibility that an LBV phase may be the prelude to core collapse.
Alternatively, the LBV events may be occurring in binary systems where
the LBV phase is reached by one of the stars shortly before its more
evolved companion becomes a supernova. The Small Magellanic Cloud
binary system HD 5980 is believed to consist precisely of such two
objects: a massive hydrogen-poor Wolf-Rayet star in orbit around an
even more massive variable star that recently underwent an LBV-type
eruption. The wind velocity and the mass-loss rate of the LBV-
component have changed remarkably over the past $\sim$40 years,
providing a glimpse of the detailed information of how a binary
LBV-type star may shape the circumstellar environment into which the
eventual supernova ejecta will collide. One process that is shaping
the CSM around HD 5980 is the interaction between the slow wind
ejected during eruption and the fast wind that was subsequently
"turned on". In order to model the evolution of this interaction
region, an accurate determination of the mass-loss rate and the wind
velocity of HD 5980 is required. Because the optical emission lines
are contaminated by other sources, only the P Cygni profiles
observable in the UV spectral region provide unambiguous values for
the current wind speed and mass-loss rate. In this proposal we are
requesting 2 HST orbits to observe HD 5980 with STIS in order to
obtain one FUV MAMA spectrum from which we will determine the current
wind velocity and mass-loss rate of the LBV-type star. These data will
also allow a more detailed analysis of the atmospheric structure of
the LBV-type object in its quiescent state and, combined with
ground-based observations, an analysis of the emission arising in the
wind-wind collision region may be performed. Although HD5980 may be
unique in our Galactic vicinity, it may be typical of massive star
systems formed in low-metallicity regions in distant galaxies and
thus, an understanding of HD5980 can provide further insight into the
energetic phenomena present in the more distant, low-metallicity star-
forming regions.

STIS/MA1/MA2 11857

STIS Cycle 17 MAMA Dark Monitor

This proposal monitors the behavior of the dark current in each of the
MAMA detectors.

The basic monitor takes two 1380s ACCUM darks each week with each
detector. However, starting Oct 5, pairs are only included for weeks
that the LRP has external MAMA observations planned. The weekly pairs
of exposures for each detector are linked so that they are taken at
opposite ends of the same SAA free interval. This pairing of exposures
will make it easier to separate long and short term temporal
variability from temperature dependent changes.

For both detectors, additional blocks of exposures are taken once
every six months. These are groups of five 1314s FUV-MAMA Time-Tag
darks or five 3x315s NUV ACCUM darks distributed over a single
SAA-free interval. This will give more information on the brightness
of the FUV MAMA dark current as a function of the amount of time that
the HV has been on, and for the NUV MAMA will give a better measure of
the short term temperature dependence.

WFC3/IR/S/C 11929

IR Dark Current Monitor

Analyses of ground test data showed that dark current signals are more
reliably removed from science data using darks taken with the same
exposure sequences as the science data, than with a single dark
current image scaled by desired exposure time. Therefore, dark current
images must be collected using all sample sequences that will be used
in science observations. These observations will be used to monitor
changes in the dark current of the WFC3-IR channel on a day-to-day
basis, and to build calibration dark current ramps for each of the
sample sequences to be used by GOs in Cycle 17. For each sample
sequence/array size combination, a median ramp will be created and
delivered to the calibration database system (CDBS).

WFC3/UVIS 11432

UVIS Internal Flats

This proposal will be used to assess the stability of the flat field
structure for the UVIS detector. Flat fields will be obtained for all
filters using the internal D2 and tungsten lamps.

This proposal corresponds to Activity Description ID WF19. It should
execute only after the following proposals have executed:
WF08 - Proposal 11421
WF09 - Proposal 11422
WF11 - Proposal 11424
WF15 - Proposal 11428

WFC3/UVIS 11565

A Search for Astrometric Companions to Very Low-Mass, Population II
Stars

We propose to carry out a Snapshot search for astrometric companions
in a subsample of very low-mass, halo subdwarfs identified within 120
parsecs of the Sun. These ultra-cool M subdwarfs are local
representatives of the lowest-mass H burning objects from the Galactic
Population II. The expected 3-4 astrometric doubles that will be
discovered will be invaluable in that they will be the first systems
from which gravitational masses of metal-poor stars at the bottom of
the main sequence can be directly measured.

WFC3/UVIS 11905

WFC3 UVIS CCD Daily Monitor

The behavior of the WFC3 UVIS CCD will be monitored daily with a set
of full-frame, four-amp bias and dark frames. A smaller set of 2Kx4K
subarray biases are acquired at less frequent intervals throughout the
cycle to support subarray science observations. The internals from
this proposal, along with those from the anneal procedure (Proposal
11909), will be used to generate the necessary superbias and superdark
reference files for the calibration pipeline (CDBS).

FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:

Significant Spacecraft Anomalies: (The following are preliminary
reports of potential non-nominal performance that will be
investigated.)

HSTARS: (None)

COMPLETED OPS REQUEST: (None)

COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None)

SCHEDULED SUCCESSFUL FAILURE TIMES
FGS GSAcq 04 04
FGS REAcq 11 11
OBAD with Maneuver 02 01 253/07:40z

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)