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Daily Report #5183



 
 
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Old September 17th 10, 03:21 PM posted to sci.astro.hubble
Bassford, Lynn
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Posts: 44
Default Daily Report #5183

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to Collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT #5183

PERIOD COVERED: 5am September 16 - 5am September 17, 2010 (DOY 259/09:00z-260/09:00z)

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
FGS GSAcq 3 3
FGS REAcq 7 7
OBAD with Maneuver 3 3

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)


OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED:

ACS/WFC 12210

SLACS for the Masses: Extending Strong Lensing to Lower Masses and
Smaller Radii

Strong gravitational lensing provides the most accurate possible
measurement of mass in the central regions of early-type galaxies
(ETGs). We propose to continue the highly productive Sloan Lens ACS
(SLACS) Survey for strong gravitational lens galaxies by observing a
substantial fraction of 135 new ETG gravitational-lens candidates with
HST-ACS WFC F814W Snapshot imaging. The proposed target sample has
been selected from the seventh and final data release of the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey, and is designed to complement the distribution of
previously confirmed SLACS lenses in lens-galaxy mass and in the ratio
of Einstein radius to optical half-light radius. The observations we
propose will lead to a combined SLACS sample covering nearly two
decades in mass, with dense mapping of enclosed mass as a function of
radius out to the half-light radius and beyond. With this longer mass
baseline, we will extend our lensing and dynamical analysis of the
mass structure and scaling relations of ETGs to galaxies of
significantly lower mass, and directly test for a transition in
structural and dark-matter content trends at intermediate galaxy mass.
The broader mass coverage will also enable us to make a direct
connection to the structure of well-studied nearby ETGs as deduced
from dynamical modeling of their line-of-sight velocity distribution
fields. Finally, the combined sample will allow a more conclusive test
of the current SLACS result that the intrinsic scatter in ETG
mass-density structure is not significantly correlated with any other
galaxy observables. The final SLACS sample at the conclusion of this
program will comprise approximately 130 lenses with known foreground
and background redshifts, and is likely to be the largest confirmed
sample of strong-lens galaxies for many years to come.

STIS/CCD 11845

CCD Dark Monitor Part 2

Monitor the darks for the STIS CCD.

STIS/CCD 11847

CCD Bias Monitor-Part 2

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 11999

JWST Calibration from a Consistent Absolute Calibration of Spitzer &
Hubble

Recently, Gordon, Bohlin, et al. submitted a successful Spitzer
proposal for cross calibration of HST and Spitzer. The
cross-calibration targets are stars in three categories: WDs, A-stars,
and G-stars. Traditionally, IR flux standards are extrapolations of
stellar models that are tied to absolute fluxes at shorter
wavelengths. HST absolute flux standards are among the best available
with a solid basis that uses pure hydrogen models of hot WD stars for
the SED slopes and is tied to Vega at 5556A via precise Landolt V-band
photometry. Consistently matching models to our three categories of
HST observations along with Spitzer photometry and the few existing
absolute IR flux determinations will provide a solid basis for JWST
flux calibration over its 0.8-30micron range. The goal of this
proposal is to complete the HST observations of the set of HST/Spitzer
cross-calibration stars. Using a variety of standard stars with three
different spectral types will ensure that the final calibration is not
significantly affected by systematic uncertainties.

STIS/CCD/MA/S/C 12244

Mapping Ganymede's Time Variable Aurora in the Search for a Subsurface
Ocean

A very exciting, unresolved question about Jupiter?s moon Ganymede is
whether Ganymede harbors a saline subsurface water ocean under its icy
crust. A saline, electrically conductive water ocean will modify
Ganymede's magnetic field environment and thus also the locations of
Ganymede's northern and southern aurora ovals. Without an ocean,
Ganymede's aurora ovals will rock by ~10 degrees towards and away from
Jupiter within 5.25 hours. However, with an ocean the shift will be up
to only ~4 degrees. We propose two visits of five consecutive STIS
orbits at eastern elongation to monitor and resolve with sufficient
precision the shift in locations of Ganymede's aurora ovals to
determine whether an ocean is present on Ganymede. Addressing this
question is timely as NASA/ESA are planning a Jupiter system mission
including a Ganymede orbiter with the objective to characterize
Ganymede as potential habitat.

WFC3/IR 11926

IR Zero Points

We will measure and monitor the zeropoints through the IR filters
using observations of the white dwarf standard stars, GD153, GD71 and
GD191B2B and the solar analog standard star, P330E. Data will be taken
monthly during Cycle 17. Observations of the star cluster, NGC 104,
are made twice to check color transformations. We expect an accuracy
of 2% in the wide filter zeropoints relative to the HST photometric
system, and 5% in the medium- and narrow-band filters.

WFC3/IR 12265

Determining the Physical Nature of a Unique Giant Lya Emitter at
z=6.595

We propose deep WFC3/IR imaging for a giant Lya emitter (LAE) with a
Keck spectroscopic redshift of z=6.595 discovered by extensive
narrow-band imaging with Subaru in the SXDS-UKIDSS/UDS field. This
remarkable object is unique in many respects including its large
stellar mass and luminous nebula which extends over 17 kpc; no
equivalent source has been found in other surveys. The nature of this
rare object is unclear. Fundamental to progress is determining the
origin of star formation in such an early massive object; if the age
of the stellar population is short we are likely witnessing a special
moment in the formation history of a massive galaxy. The heating
source for the nebula is also unclear; options include intense star
formation, the infall of cold gas onto a dark halo or shock heating
from a merger. We will take deep broad-band (F125W and F160W) images
and an intermediate-band (F098M) image which will be analyzed in
conjunction with ultra-deep IRAC 3.6 and 4.5 micron data being taken
by the Spitzer/SEDS project. These data will enable us to constrain
the star formation rate and stellar age. Moreover, the UV continuum
morphology and Lya-line distribution will be investigated for evidence
of a major merger, cold accretion, or hot bubbles associated with
outflows. We will address the physical origin of the remarkable object
observed at an epoch where massive galaxies are thought to begin their
assembly.

WFC3/UV/IR 12234

Differentiation in the Kuiper belt: a Search for Silicates on Icy
Bodies.

We currently have a large on-going program (Go Program 11644, 120
orbits) to exploit the superb stability and photometric
characteristics of HST and the broad range in wavelength coverage of
the WFC3 to make broad-band vis/IR spectral observations of a large
sample of Kuiper belt objects. Though the survey is currently only
~50% complete, the quality and unprecedented signal-to-noise of these
observations has revealed the existence of a previously undiscovered
spectral variability not explainable within our current understanding
of these objects.

A possible explanation for this variability is that with this faint
set of Kuiper belt objects, we are beginning to see the difference
between larger differentiated objects and smaller non-differentiated
objects. Its seems that the small and likely undifferentiated objects
are exhibiting silicate features that affect our photometry - features
not exhibited by the icy mantles of larger icy bodies.

We propose a small add-on survey to dramatically increase the
scientific results of our large program. The proposed observations
will use the proven capabilities of WFC3 to make broad and narrow-band
photometric observations to detect spectral features in the 1.0-1.3
micron range of a small subset of our sources. The 13 targets have
been carefully selected to cover the range of spectral variability
detected in our large program as well as sample the entire dynamical
range and physical sizes of these targets. These observations will
allow the identification of undifferentiated Kuiper belt objects by
detection of their silicate features. As a probe for differentiation,
these observations could constrain the natal locations of different
Kuiper belt classes, a constraint currently unavailable to formation
models. This small set of observations will allow the calibration of
the spectral variability seen in our large program, and drastically
enhance the scientific output of our full Cycle 17 sample.

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).

WFC3/UVIS 11912

UVIS Internal Flats

This proposal will be used to assess the stability of the flat field
structure for the UVIS detector throughout the 15 months of Cycle 17.
The data will be used to generate on-orbit updates for the delta-flat
field reference files used in the WFC3 calibration pipeline, if
significant changes in the flat structure are seen.
 




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