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DAILY REPORT #3908
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to collect World Class Science
DAILY REPORT #3908 PERIOD COVERED: UT July 22-24, 2005 (DOY 203-205) OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED NIC1/NIC2/NIC3 8793 NICMOS Post-SAA calibration - CR Persistence Part 4 A new procedure proposed to alleviate the CR-persistence problem of NICMOS. Dark frames will be obtained immediately upon exiting the SAA contour 23, and every time a NICMOS exposure is scheduled within 50 minutes of coming out of the SAA. The darks will be obtained in parallel in all three NICMOS Cameras. The POST-SAA darks will be non-standard reference files available to users with a USEAFTER date/time mark. The keyword 'USEAFTER=date/time' will also be added to the header of each POST-SAA DARK frame. The keyword must be populated with the time, in addition to the date, because HST crosses the SAA ~8 times per day so each POST-SAA DARK will need to have the appropriate time specified, for users to identify the ones they need. Both the raw and processed images will be archived as POST-SAA DARKSs. Generally we expect that all NICMOS science/calibration observations started within 50 minutes of leaving an SAA will need such maps to remove the CR persistence from the science images. Each observation will need its own CRMAP, as different SAA passages leave different imprints on the NICMOS detectors. ACS/HRC 10623 HST Optical Snapshot Survey of Intermediate Redshift Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies Ultraluminous infrared galaxies {ULIGs} are commonly believed to be a transitory phase in the evolution of disk galaxy mergers into QSOs. However, a recently reported discrepancy between the morphological and structural properties of z 0.13 ULIGs and z = 0.12-0.25 QSOs with M{V} -23.5 has cast doubt on their evolutionary connection. We propose an ACS snapshot survey of a sample of 39 ULIGs with z = 0.35-1.0. These galaxies are the best suited for comparison with luminous z=0.12-0.25 QSOs because {1} they are at larger lookback times than local ULIGs, and thus are likely representative of the systems that evolve into lower redshift luminous QSOs, {2} they have luminosities comparable to luminous QSOs and, {3} they are selected in a manner that biases the sample towards harboring imbedded AGN, and thus are the most likely precursors to optical QSOs. High resolution HST ACS images will allow a determination of galaxy morphology and reveal the presence of bright AGN. The 2-D profile of each galaxy will be modeled using GALFIT, with the AGN comprising one component of the fit where applicable to better characterize the underlying galaxy. Fundamental parameters {effective radius and surface brightness, and F814W-band magnitude} of the underlying galaxy will thus be measured and compared with the host galaxies of the luminous QSO sample. This imaging campaign will consume a modest amount of HST time, but will provide for the first time a statistically significant view of ULIGs at look-back times of 30-65% the age of the universe, and sufficient resolution and sensitivity to conduct a meaningful comparison with z=0.12-0.25 QSOs, as well as with local {z 0.3} IRAS- detected and distant {z 2} SCUBA-detected ULIGs. WFPC2 10534 Active Atmospheres on Uranus and Neptune We propose Snapshot observations of Uranus and Neptune to monitor changes in their atmospheres on time scales of weeks, months, and years. Uranus is rapidly approaching equinox in 2007, with another 4 degrees of latitude becoming visible every year. Recent HST observations during this epoch {including 6818: Hammel, Lockwood, and Rages; 8680: Hammel, Rages, Lockwood, and Marley; 8634: Rages, Hammel, Lockwood, Marley, and McKay; and 10170: Rages, Hammel, Lockwood, and Marley} have revealed strongly wavelength-dependent latitudinal structure and the presence of numerous visible-wavelength cloud features in the northern hemisphere. Long-term ground-based observations {Lockwood and Thompson 1999} show seasonal brightness changes whose origins are not well understood. Recent near-IR images of Neptune obtained using adaptive optics on the Keck Telesccope together with images from our Cycle 9 Snapshot program {8634} show a general increase in activity at south temperate latitudes as well as the possible development of another Great Dark Spot. Further Snapshot observations of these two dynamic planets will elucidate the nature of long- term changes in their zonal atmospheric bands and clarify the processes of formation, evolution, and dissipation of discrete albedo features. ACS/HRC/WFC 10514 Kuiper Belt Binaries: Probes of Early Solar System Evolution Binaries in the Kuiper Belt are a scientific windfall: in them we have relatively fragile test particles which can be used as tracers of the early dynamical evolution of the outer Solar System. We propose a Snapshot program using the ACS/HRC that has a potential discovery efficiency an order of magnitude higher than the HST observations that have already discovered the majority of known transneptunian binaries. By more than doubling the number of observed objects in dynamically hot and cold subpopulations we will be able to answer, with statistical significance, the question of whether these groups differ in the abundance of binaries as a result of their particular dynamical paths into the Kuiper Belt. Today's Kuiper Belt bears the imprints of the final stages of giant-planet building and migration; binaries may offer some of the best preserved evidence of that long-ago era. ACS/WFC/WFPC2 10499 Life Before the Fall: Morphological Evolution of Galaxies in Groups Prior to Cluster Assembly at z=0.37 We propose to obtain a deep ACS/WFC mosaic of a protocluster comprised of 4 distinct galaxy groups that are gravitationally bound to each other at z=0.37. The galaxy groups have a total combined mass comparable to the Coma cluster and already have twice as many absorption line galaxies as the field. The SG1120 complex thus provides an unprecedented opportunity for determining whether "pre-processing" in the group environment is responsible for the bulk of observed diffences between galaxies in nearby clusters and those in the field. High resolution imaging with HST is needed to morphologically classify the group members and measure their structural parameters. By combining the early-type fraction and morphology-density relation in SG1120 with results from our wide-field spectroscopic survey, we will test whether spectral and morphological transformation timescales are decoupled on group scales and isolate the environmental mechanisms responsible for such evolution. We will also measure the Fundamental Plane and M/L ratios of the early-type members to constrain their formation epoch and how their stellar populations have evolved. Observations of the multiple galaxy groups in SG1120 provide a unique dataset to the community and will aid our understanding of how galaxies evolve in the still poorly studied group regime. ACS/HRC 10498 Detecting the progenitors of core-collapse supernovae Modern supernovae searches in the nearby Universe are discovering large numbers of SNe which have massive star progenitors {Types II, Ib and Ic}. The extensive HST image archives within ~20Mpc enables their indvidual bright stellar content to be resolved. As massive, evolved stars are the most luminous single objects in a galaxy, the progenitos of core-collapse SNe should be directly detectable on pre-explosion images. Two recent highlights of our ongoing HST programme are that we have detected the first red supergiant progenitor of a normal type II supernova and shown that SN1993J came from a binary system by detecting the companion star at the position of the SN. We have detected a further two progenitor stars of normal type II-P supernovae, set mass limits on a further 7 and suggest that faint type II supernovae are unlikely to come from the collapse of very massive stars which form black holes. These discoveries are providing strong constraints on theoretical models of pre- supernova evolution and the origin of the supernova types. We request time to continue this successful project and require ACS observations of future SNe which are discovered in galaxies closer than 20Mpc which have pre-explosion HST archive images available. This will allow the SNe to be precisely positioned on the pre-explosion images. We have set a final goal for this project of determining masses and types, or setting restrictive mass-limits for 30 supernovae. ACS/WFC 10417 Host Galaxies and Environments of the Most Massive Black Holes in the Early Universe The existence of luminous quasars with billion solar mass black holes at high redshift poses important questions about the relation between the formation and evolution of the earliest galaxies and quasars in the universe: how could these high-redshift black holes accrete matter so quickly and so efficiently? Is the quasar phase connected to the formation of galactic bulge in the earliest epoch? Was the black hole-bulge mass relation observed locally already established at high-redshift? We will use ACS/WFC to obtain rest-frame UV imaging of five quasars at z~4 with the highest estimated black hole mass, of the order 10 billion solar masses. The goal of the HST observation is to directly detect their host galaxies and to probe their galactic environment. These quasars are likely among the most massive and luminous host galaxies at high-redshift, providing ideal targets for direct detection. The rest-frame UV properties measured with HST will be combined with rest-frame optical, mid to far-IR oberservations of these quasars to measure the star-formation rate, to estimate the stellar age and mass of the host galaxy, and to probe the quasar/starburst connection, quasar triggering mechanism and relation between black hole and bulge formation at the highest possible redshift. One of the targets, PSS 2322+1944 {z=4.17}, is a gravitational lensed quasar with a nearly complete Einstein ring in CO emission, providing a unique opportunity to study the small scale structure of a high-redshift quasar host galaxy. ACS/WFC 10407 When did M31's disk form? The recent discovery of THIN disk globular clusters in M31 provides a unique opportunity to determine the age of M31's disk. The globular cluster kinematics imply that the disk has not been significantly heated or destroyed by a merger since they were formed. Thus the cluster ages provide a lower limit to the disk age. This limit will complement the high-redshift data, where few disk galaxies are currently known because of their relatively low surface brighness. We propose to obtain BV ACS imaging of seven disk clusters to below the level of the horizontal branch {HB} to determine the distribution of evolved stars in the color-magnitude diagram. The contribution of evolved stars, particularly blue HB stars, is crucial to estimating the age of the globular cluster from both color-magnitude diagrams and the high S/N integrated spectra which we will obtain from the ground. ACS/HRC/WFC 10400 Unravelling NGC 3125-1: The Most Extreme Wolf-Rayet Star Cluster Known in the Local Universe Based on cycle 10 STIS UV spectroscopy, we have recently discovered a star cluster, NGC 3125-1, which has the strongest known He II 1640 emission {of stellar origin} in the local universe. The number of implied WR stars is more than an order of magnitude higher than for any other well-studied giant HII region. Because strong He II 1640 emission has been discovered in the composite spectra of redshift 3 Lyman Break Galaxies, NGC 3125-1 potentially provides a unique opportunity to study a nearby object with direct implications for the stellar populations observed in the early universe. In order to understand the origin of this anomalously strong WR feature, we propose to obtain the first high resolution imaging of NGC 3125-1, at wavelengths from the far ultraviolet through the near infrared. This will allow us to simultaneously place it in the context of more familiar objects, such as R136 in 30 Doradus, while also unravelling the physics responsible for the observed UV spectral signature. ACS/HRC/WFC/NIC2 10399 Accurate and Robust Calibration of the Extragalactic Distance Scale with the Maser Galaxy NGC4258 II The extragalactic distance scale {EDS} is defined by a comparison of Cepheid Period- Luminosity {PL} relations for nearby galaxies and the LMC, whose uncertain distance is thereby the SOLE anchor. Studies of masers orbiting the central black hole in NGC4258 have provided the most accurate extragalactic distance ever {7.2+/-0.5 Mpc}, and new radio data and analysis techniques will reduce the uncertainty to 3.5% {0.07 mag} by 2005. Since this distance is well determined and based on geometric arguments, NGC4258 can provide a much needed new anchor for the EDS. Ultimately, the combination of an independent measurement of H0 and measurements of CMB fluctuations {e.g., WMAP} can be used to directly constrain cosmological parameters including the equation of state of dark energy. In our Cycle 12 proposal, we defined a program spanning two cycles. The Cycle 12 portion was accepted. We have acquired WFC images and are constructing well sampled PL relations in 3 colors {BVI}. The purpose of the Cycle 13 observations is to address systematic sources of error and is crucial for the success of the entire program. To disentangle the effects of reddening and metallicity, and to characterize the effects of blending, we require 50 orbits to obtain H-band photometry {NICMOS/NIC2} and high resolution images {ACS/HRC}. ACS/WFC/WFPC2 10394 Deep imaging of newly discovered globular clusters in the outer halo of M31 Globular clusters {GCs} are fossil relics with which we can investigate the processes of galaxy formation and growth. We have recently discovered a sample of GCs, as part of a very wide area CCD survey of M31. These clusters span a range in projected galactocentric distance of 20 - 80 kpc, more than double the radii of the previous most remote known GC. Here we apply for deep ACS images of 13 GCs, which will allow us to study their stellar populations, line-of-sight distances and structural parameters. These will be used to: a} Investigate the merger history of M31, through an examination of variations in the RGB and HB morphologies, particularly to obtain metallicities and check for the presence of any second parameter effect in the HB. d} Determine, in conjuction with ground-based spectroscopy, the dynamical mass of M31 at large radius, providing a direct probe of the mass distribution of its dark halo. ACS/HRC/WFC 10389 ACS CCDs daily monitor - Cycle 13 - Part 2 This program consists of a set of basic tests to monitor, the read noise, the development of hot pixels and test for any source of noise in ACS CCD detectors. The files, biases and dark will be used to create reference files for science calibration. This program will be for the entire lifetime of ACS. NIC2 10176 Coronagraphic Survey for Giant Planets Around Nearby Young Stars A systematic imaging search for extra-solar Jovian planets is now possible thanks to recent progress in identifying "young stars near Earth". For most of the proposed young {~ 30 Myrs} and nearby {~ 60 pc} targets, we can detect a few Jupiter-mass planets as close as a few tens of AUs from the primary stars. This represents the first time that potential analogs of our solar system - that is planetary systems with giant planets having semi-major axes comparable to those of the four giant planets of the Solar System - come within the grasp of existing instrumentation. Our proposed targets have not been observed for planets with the Hubble Space Telescope previously. Considering the very successful earlier NICMOS observations of low mass brown dwarfs and planetary disks among members of the TW Hydrae Association, a fair fraction of our targets should also turn out to posses low mass brown dwarfs, giant planets, or dusty planetary disks because our targets are similar to {or even better than} the TW Hydrae stars in terms of youth and proximity to Earth. Should HST time be awarded and planetary mass candidates be found, proper motion follow-up of candidate planets will be done with ground-based AOs. ACS/HRC/WFC 10094 Mid-Ultraviolet Spectral Templates for Old Stellar Systems We propose a three-year program to provide both observational and theoretical mid- ultraviolet {2300A -- 3100A} spectral templates for interpreting the age and metallicity of globular clusters and elliptical galaxies from spectra of their integrated light. The mid-UV is the region most directly influenced by stellar age, and is observed directly in optical and infrared studies of high-redshift quiescent systems. The reliability of age and metallicity determinations remains questionable until non-solar metallicities and abundance ratios are considered, and stars spanning the color-magnitude diagram are included, as we propose here. With archival HST STIS spectra we have improved the list of mid-UV atomic line parameters, then calculated spectra from first principles which match observed spectra of standard stars up to one- fourth solar metallicity. We will extend both observations and calculations to stars of solar metallicity and beyond, and to those in short-lived stages hotter than the main-sequence turnoff, stars not currently well-represented in empirical libraries. The necessary line-list improvements will come from new high-resolution mid-UV spectra of nine field stars. A key application of the results of this program will be to the old systems now being discovered as `Extremely Red Objects' at high redshifts. Reliable age-dating of these places constraints on the epoch when large structures first formed in the universe. FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY: Significant Spacecraft Anomalies: (The following are preliminary reports of potential non-nominal performance that will be investigated.) HSTARS: #9899 - GSacq(2,1,2) resulted in fine lock backup (2,0,2) @ 205/18:26:57z GSacq(2,1,2) scheduled at 205/18:26:57 resulted in finelock backup during zoe. At AOS there were no flags. The Map at 18:34:31 showed vehicle axis errors 27.276, -6.146, -3.727. #9900 - GSacq(1,2,2) results in finelock backup (1,0,1) scan step lmt exc on FGS-2 @ 206/07:35z The GSacq(1,2,2) scheduled at 206/07:35:06 - 07:43:08 Z resulted in finelock backup (1,0,1) using FGS-1, due to scan step limit exceeded on FGS-2 durng acquisition walkdown. COMPLETED OPS REQUEST: (None) COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None) SCHEDULED SUCCESSFUL FGS Gsacq 22 22 FGS Reacq 24 24 FHST Update 39 39 SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None) |
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