DAILY REPORT # 4148

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT # 4148

PERIOD COVERED: UT July 3,4, 2006 (DOY 184,185)

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED


NIC1/NIC2/NIC3 8794

NICMOS Post-SAA calibration - CR Persistence Part 5

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.

S/C 11009

ACS Science Data Buffer Check/Self-Tests for CS Buffer RAM and MIE RAM

The ACS Science Buffer RAM is checked for bit flips during SAA
passages. This is followed by a Control Section {CS} self-test
consisting of writing/reading a specified bit pattern from each memory
location in Buffer RAM and a similar test for MIE RAM. The MIE must be
placed in BOOT mode for its self-test. The CS Buffer RAM self-test as
well as the bit flip tests are all done with the CS in Operate.

SC/ACS/WFC/HRC 11008

ACS CCDs Side-2 Temperature Setpoint

Purpose: Mini functional test on the Side 2 at the current temperature
setpoint and adjustment of the the WFC CCD temperature to a new
nominal operating level {-81C} .

S/C 11007

ACS Side 2 Dump Test and Verification of ACS Memory Load

This proposal is a test and verification of the ACS dump of CS memory
capability. Areas to dump include: EEPROM, PROM, EDAC RAM, and Buffer
RAM with the CS in OPERATE mode.

ACS/WFC/HRC 11005

Funcional test - MEB2 switch

This is a functional test to be executed after the switch to MEB2.

FGS 10928

Calibrating Cosmological Chronometers: White Dwarf Masses

We propose to use HST/FGS1R to determine White Dwarf {WD} masses. The
unmatched resolving power of HST/FGS1R will be utilized to follow up
four selected WD binary pairs. This high precision obtained with
HST/FGS1R simply cannot be equaled by any ground based technique. This
proposed effort complements that done by CoI Nelan in which a sample
of WDs is being observed with HST/FGS1R. This proposal will
dramatically increase the number of WDs for which dynamical mass
measurements are possible, enabling a better calibration of the WD
mass-radius relation, cooling curves, initial to final mass relations,
and ultimately giving important clues to the star formation history of
our Galaxy and the age of its disk as well as in other galaxies.

NIC1 10879

A search for planetary-mass companions to the nearest L dwarfs -
completing the survey

We propose to extend the most sensitive survey yet undertaken for very
low-mass companions to ultracool dwarfs. We will use NICMOS to
complete imaging of an all-sky sample of 87 L dwarfs in 80 systems
within 20 parsecs of the Sun. The combination of infrared imaging and
proximity allows us to search for companions with mass ratios q0.25
at separations exceeding ~3 AU, while probing companions with q0.5 at
~1.5 AU separation. This resolution is crucial, since no ultracool
binaries are known in the field with separations exceeding 15 AU.
Fifty L dwarfs from the 20-parsec sample have high- resolution
imaging, primarily through our Cycle 13 HST proposal which identified
six new binaries, including an L/T system. Here, we propose to target
the remaining 30 dwarfs

WFPC2 10837

Establishing the Nature of a Mysterious Evolved Star, HD179821

We propose to reobserve the spherical circumstellar shells of an
evolved star, HD 179821. The nature of this object, whether it is an
intermediate-mass post-asymptotic giant branch star or a massive
super-giant, has been debated over years. The past investigations
scrutinized the properties of the object and its circumstellar shells.
This enigmatic object possesses characteristics of a post-AGB star and
a yellow hyper-giant, and there is no evidence that unambiguously
defines the nature of this object. The circumstellar shell of HD
179821 was imaged in the previous WFPC2 observations during cycle 6,
and its multiple concentric arcs extending out to about 8 arcsec were
revealed. The purpose of the proposed HST observations is to obtain
the second-epoch images of this source and perform proper-motion
measurements of the shells in order to directly determine the distance
to this object, thereby establishing its incredibly elusive nature
once and for all. It has been nearly 10 years since the last
observations. Given the object's rather high expansion velocity of 34
km/s, the expected angular expansion is 72 milli-arcsec if the object
is located at 1 kpc and 12 milli-arcsec if 6 kpc. These values are
well above the smallest material motion we can measure, 2 to 3
milli-arcsec, in our methodology that has been proven in our recent
proper-motion measurements on a proto-planetary nebula, the Egg
Nebula, using the archived HST/NICMOS near-IR continuum data. We
estimate that the new distance measurement is of about 10% error. Once
we obtain the distance to HD 179821, we will construct a radiative
transfer model of the object to constrain physical parameters of the
star and shells with a greater certainty. Then, we can confront
theories of the stellar evolution with the newly obtained revelation.
In addition, we can examine if all shells are moving at the same
speed, since there are multiple shells around HD 179821. It is
typically assumed that the expansion of the circumstellar shells is
constant over the lifetime of the nebula. Our results will immediately
test the validity of this one of the most fundamental assumptions in
the stellar outflows.

NIC2 10808

Morphologies of spectroscopically-confirmed "red and dead" galaxies at
z~2.5

Using a combination of wide-field near-infrared imaging and very deep
follow-up near- infrared spectroscopy we have identified a population
of massive "red and dead" galaxies at z~2.5. The galaxies lack
emission lines and have strong Balmer/4000 Angstrom breaks,
demonstrating directly that they have evolved stellar populations.
These objects are very likely progenitors of massive ellipticals today
and may be descendants of the first generation of galaxies. We propose
to image 10 of these objects with the NIC2 camera to determine their
morphologies. The goals are to 1} determine whether they have the
sizes of present-day early-types or are more compact, as predicted by
models, 2} determine the morphology, using visual classification and
quantitative methods, and 3} constrain the evolution of the Kormendy
relation from z~2.5 to the present. These observations will show
whether the oldest and most massive galaxies at z~2.5 were already
fully formed or still in the process of assembly.

NIC1 10797

HE0450-2958: Lonesome black hole, scantly dressed quasar or massively
dust obscured host galaxy?

We propose to obtain a deep NICMOS image of the bright z=0.285 quasar
HE0450-2958 that has an exceptional, undetected host galaxy, at least
6 times fainter than expected for the quasar luminosity. Several
mutually exclusive explanations that were put forward in the last
weeks, attempting to explain the apparently undermassive host galaxy,
have important implication for their respective areas: The host could
be a dust obscured ultra- luminous infrared galaxy in transition to
become a quasar, HE450-2958 could have a normal host galaxy but an
undermassive central black hole, or the quasar could recently have
been ejected from a nearby companion galaxy in a 3-body black hole
interaction or by gravitational recoil. We want to use NIC2 with the
minimum-background F160W filter to obtain a =10 times fainter limit
on the host galaxy mass than is currently available with ACS, in order
to set strong constraints for these very important scenarios.

WFPC2 10748

WFPC2 CYCLE 14 Standard Darks

This dark calibration program obtains dark frames every week in order
to provide data for the ongoing calibration of the CCD dark current
rate, and to monitor and characterize the evolution of hot pixels.
Over an extended period these data will also provide a monitor of
radiation damage to the CCDs.

WFPC2 10745

WFPC2 CYCLE 14 INTERNAL MONITOR

This calibration proposal is the Cycle 14 routine internal monitor for
WFPC2, to be run weekly to monitor the health of the cameras. A
variety of internal exposures are obtained in order to provide a
monitor of the integrity of the CCD camera electronics in both bays
{both gain 7 and gain 15 -- to test stability of gains and bias
levels}, a test for quantum efficiency in the CCDs, and a monitor for
possible buildup of contaminants on the CCD windows. These also
provide raw data for generating annual super-bias reference files for
the calibration pipeline.

FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:

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

HSTARS:

10335 REacq(1,2,2) failed to RGA control @ 184/14:04:00z

REacq(1,2,2) at 184/14:01:27 failed to RGA control with QF1STOPF flag
set at 14:04. OBAD2 at 13:56:17 had errors of V1=3.32, V2=5.30,
V3=-10.85, RSS=12.54 Observation possibly affected: NIC 3

10336 GSacq(2,3,2) failed due to search radius limit exceeded @
184/17:12:56z

GSacq(2,3,2) scheduled at 184/17:12:56 failed during LOS due to search
radius limit exceeded on FGS 2. OBAD2 scheduled at 17:07:48 showed
errors of V1=-1.18, V2=41.32, V3=-8.32, RSS=42.17. ESB message a05
(FGS Coarse Track failed - Search Radius Limit exceeded ) was
received.

10337 REacq(2,1,1) Failed to RGA Control @ 184/20:40:28z

At acquisition of signal 184/20:48:49, Target REacq(2,1,1) scheduled
for 184/20:40:28 - 20:48:33 was observed to have failed to RGA Hold
due to both scan step limit exceeded (QF2SSLEX) and stop flag
(QF2STOPF) on FGS-2. Prior GSAcq using the same star id was
successful. Pre-acquisition OBADs had (RSS) attitude error corrections
values of 2886.75 and 16.96 arcseconds. Post-acquisition OBAD/MAP at
184/20:48:52 had (RSS) error correction value of 18.64 arcseconds.
Possible Observations affected: NICMOS 8.

10338 REacq(2,1,2) Failed to RGA Control @ 185/20:54:20z

The Target REacq(2,1,2) scheduled for 185/20:54:20 - 21:02:25 failed
to RGA Hold due to stop flag (QF2STOPF) indication on FGS-2. Prior
REacq using same star id was successful. Pre-acquisition OBADs had
(RSS) attitude error corrections values of 3849.14 and 8.14
arcseconds. Possible Observations affected: NICMOS 19.

COMPLETED OPS REQUEST:
17807-1 Set ACS WFC Event Flag 8 @ 185/1338z

COMPLETED OPS NOTES:
1502-0 Configure CCS SDH to collect ACS memory files @ 184/2301z,
185/0647z
1386-4 User Class for Quick Updated Proc's @ 186/0413z
1409-0 Mnemonic Display Utility Work Around @ 186/0413z
1504-0 Change JERRCNT Limit @ 186/0459z (HSTAR # 10340)

SCHEDULED SUCCESSFUL FAILURE TIMES
FGS GSacq 13 12 184/17:12:56z
(HSTAR # 10336)

FGS REacq 12 08 184/09:13:41z
(HSTAR # 10334)
184/14:04:00z
(HSTAR # 10335)
184/20:40:28z
(HSTAR # 10337)
185/20:54:20z
(HSTAR # 10338)

OBAD with Maneuver 51 51


SIGNIFICANT EVENTS:

FLASH REPORT - Update on ACS side 2 switch

(Tue, 04 Jul 2006 07:40:52, Summary Extract) - At 185/10:35 the WFC
CCD detector started and shortly thereafter successfully completed its
first exposure/readout using the side 2 electronics. The HRC CCD first
exposure/readout using its side 2 electronic occurred at 185/11:06 and
was also successful. All temperature and voltages continue to remain
within family. Also, The Payload FSW team has reported back initial
results of the ACS MEB2 memory integrity. The PROM, EDAC, EEPROM and
MIE all verified GOOD. Results of the CS Buffer RAM will be available
after the final two memory dumps are collected.

FLASH REPORT - Update on ACSside 2 switch, part 2

(Tue, 04 Jul 2006 10:30:28, Summary Extract) The WFC TEC successfully
cooled the WFC CCD detector down to its new setpoint of -81.0 dgC. The
first external images scheduled for the WFC CCD detector began at
186/01:40 (Tuesday 9:40pm) and the HRC CCD detector will begin its
external images at 186/14:10 (Wednesday 10:10am).