Daily # 4144

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT # 4144

PERIOD COVERED: UT June 27, 2006 (DOY 178)

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED

WFPC2 10551

Gamma-Ray Bursts from Start to Finish: A Legacy Approach

The progenitors of long-duration GRBs are now known to be massive
stars. This result lends credence to the collapsar model, where a
rotating massive star ends its life leaving a black hole or a highly
magnetized neutron star, and confirms its essential aspects. The focus
of attention now is on the black hole or magnetar engines that power
the bursts. Somehow these engines create the most highly relativistic
and highly collimated outflows that we know of, through mechanisms
that no current theory can explain. These astrophysical laboratories
challenge our understanding of relativistic shocks, of mechanisms for
extracting energy from a black hole, and of how physics works in
extreme conditions. The launch of Swift is bringing us into a new era,
where we can make broadband observations that will enable us to study
these fascinating physical processes. We propose here an ambitious,
comprehensive program to obtain the datasets that will become the
standard that any successful model for the central engine must
explain. This programs leverages the HST observations to the maximum
extent by our commitment of Swift observations, a Large program at the
VLA, and extensive ground-based optical resources. By studying the
engines and searching for jets in a variety of events, this program
will investigate the conditions necessary for the engine and jet
formation itself.

FGS 10612

Binary Stars in Cyg OB2: Relics of Massive Star Formation in a
Super-Star Cluster

We propose to make a high angular resolution SNAP survey of the
massive stars in the nearby, super-star cluster Cyg OB2. We will use
FGS1r TRANS mode observations to search for astrometric companions in
the separation range of 0.01 to 1.00 arcsec and in the magnitude
difference range smaller than 4 magnitudes. The observations will test
the idea that the formation of very massive stars involves mergers and
the presence of nearby companions. Discovery of companions to massive
stars in this relatively nearby complex will provide guidance in the
interpretation of apparently supermassive stars in distant locations.
The search for companions will also be important for verification of
fundamental parameters derived from spectroscopy, adjustments to main
sequence fitting and distance estimations, determining third light
contributions of eclipsing binaries, identifying wide colliding wind
binaries, studying the relationship between orbital and spin angular
momentum, and discovering binaries amenable to future mass
determinations. The massive star environment in Cyg OB2 may be similar
to the kinds found in the earliest epoch of star formation, so that a
study of the role of binaries in Cyg OB2 will help us understand the
formation processes of the first stars in the Universe.

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.

NIC2 10173

Infrared Snapshots of 3CR Radio Galaxies

Radio galaxies are an important class of extragalactic objects: they
are one of the most energetic astrophysical phenomena and they provide
an exceptional probe of the evolving Universe, lying typically in high
density regions but well-represented across a wide redshift range. In
earlier Cycles we carried out extensive HST observations of the 3CR
sources in order to acquire a complete and quantitative inventory of
the structure, contents and evolution of these important objects.
Amongst the results, we discovered new optical jets, dust lanes,
face-on disks with optical jets, and revealed point-like nuclei whose
properties support FR-I/BL Lac unified schemes. Here, we propose to
obtain NICMOS infrared images of 3CR sources with z0.3 as a major
enhancement to an already superb dataset. We aim to deshroud dusty
galaxies, study the underlying host galaxy free from the distorting
effects of dust, locate hidden regions of star formation and establish
the physical characteristics of the dust itself. We will measure
frequency and spectral energy distributions of point-like nuclei,
expected to be stronger and more prevalent in the IR, seek spectral
turnovers in known synchrotron jets and find new jets. We will
strongly test unified AGN schemes and merge these data with existing
X-ray to radio observations. The resulting database will be an
incredibly valuable resource to the astronomical community for years
to come.

NIC2 10849

Imaging Scattered Light from Debris Disks Discovered by the Spitzer
Space Telescope around 21 Sun-like Stars

We propose to use the high-contrast capability of the NICMOS
coronagraph to image a sample of newly discovered circumstellar disks
associated with Sun-like stars. These systems were identified by their
strong thermal infrared {IR} emission with the Spitzer Space Telescope
as part of the Spitzer Legacy Science program titled "The Formation
and Evolution of Planetary Systems" {FEPS, P.I.: M.Meyer}. Modeling of
the thermal excess emission from the spectral energy distributions
alone cannot distinguish between narrowly confined high-opacity disks
and broadly distributed, low-opacity disks. By resolving light
scattered by the circumstellar material, our proposed NICMOS
observations can break this degeneracy, thus revealing the conditions
under which planet formation processes are occuring or have occured.
For three of our IR-excess stars that have known radial-velocity
planets, resolved imaging of the circumstellar debris disks may
further offer an unprecedented view of planet-disk interactions in an
extrasolar planetary system. Even non-detections of the light
scattered by the circumstellar material will place strong constraints
on the disk geometries, ruling out disk models with high optical
depth. Unlike previous disk imaging programs, our program contains a
well-defined sample of ~1 solar mass stars covering a range of ages
from 3 Myr to 3 Gyr, thus allowing us to study the evolution of disks
from primordial to debris for the first time. The results from our
program will greatly improve our understanding of the architecture of
debris disks around Sun-like stars, and will create a morphological
context for the existence of our own solar system. This proposal is
for a continuation of an approved Cycle 14 program {GO/10527, P.I.: D.
Hines}.

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.

WFPC2 10744

WFPC2 Cycle 14 Decontaminations and Associated Observations

This proposal is for the WFPC2 decons. Also included are instrument
monitors tied to decons: photometric stability check, focus monitor,
pre- and post-decon internals {bias, intflats, kspots, & darks}, UV
throughput check, VISFLAT sweep, and internal UV flat check.

WFPC2 10751

WFPC2 CYCLE 14 Intflat Linearity Check and Filter Rotation Anomaly
Monitor

Intflat observations will be taken to provide a linearity check: the
linearity test consists of a series of intflats in F555W, in each gain
and each shutter. A combination of intflats, visflats, and earthflats
will be used to check the repeatability of filter wheel motions.
{Intflat sequences tied to decons, visits 1-18 in prop 10363, have
been moved to the cycle 14 decon proposal 10744 for easier
scheduling.}

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 08 08
FGS REacq 07 07
OBAD with Maneuver 30 30
LOSS of LOCK


SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)