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Daily Report #5153



 
 
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Old August 5th 10, 03:46 PM posted to sci.astro.hubble
Cooper, Joe
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Default Daily Report #5153

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to Collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT #5153

PERIOD COVERED: 5am August 4 - 5am August 5, 2010 (DOY 216/09:00z-217/09:00z)

FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:

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

HSTARS:

12347 - REAcq(2,1,1) at 216/21:56:09z failed due to large #44 command
in V1.

Observations affected: WFC3 69, 70 Proposal #ID 11644, 11908

COMPLETED OPS REQUEST:

18851-0 - CONTINGENCY: FGS Stuck in Coarse Track @ 216/2205z

COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None)

SCHEDULED SUCCESSFUL
FGS GSAcq 6 6
FGS REAcq 10 9
OBAD with Maneuver 5 5

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)



OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED:

ACS/WFC 11996

CCD Daily Monitor (Part 3)

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 308 orbits (19.25 weeks) from 21 June
2010 to 1 November 2010.

COS/NUV/FUV 11598

How Galaxies Acquire their Gas: A Map of Multiphase Accretion and
Feedback in Gaseous Galaxy Halos

We propose to address two of the biggest open questions in galaxy
formation - how galaxies acquire their gas and how they return it to
the IGM - with a concentrated COS survey of diffuse multiphase gas in
the halos of SDSS galaxies at z = 0.15 - 0.35. Our chief science goal
is to establish a basic set of observational facts about the physical
state, metallicity, and kinematics of halo gas, including the sky
covering fraction of hot and cold material, the metallicity of infall
and outflow, and correlations with galaxy stellar mass, type, and
color - all as a function of impact parameter from 10 - 150 kpc.
Theory suggests that the bimodality of galaxy colors, the shape of the
luminosity function, and the mass-metallicity relation are all
influenced at a fundamental level by accretion and feedback, yet these
gas processes are poorly understood and cannot be predicted robustly
from first principles. We lack even a basic observational assessment
of the multiphase gaseous content of galaxy halos on 100 kpc scales,
and we do not know how these processes vary with galaxy properties.
This ignorance is presently one of the key impediments to
understanding galaxy formation in general. We propose to use the
high-resolution gratings G130M and G160M on the Cosmic Origins
Spectrograph to obtain sensitive column density measurements of a
comprehensive suite of multiphase ions in the spectra of 43 z 1 QSOs
lying behind 43 galaxies selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.
In aggregate, these sightlines will constitute a statistically sound
map of the physical state and metallicity of gaseous halos, and
subsets of the data with cuts on galaxy mass, color, and SFR will seek
out predicted variations of gas properties with galaxy properties. Our
interpretation of these data will be aided by state-of-the-art
hydrodynamic simulations of accretion and feedback, in turn providing
information to refine and test such models. We will also use Keck,
MMT, and Magellan (as needed) to obtain optical spectra of the QSOs to
measure cold gas with Mg II, and optical spectra of the galaxies to
measure SFRs and to look for outflows. In addition to our other
science goals, these observations will help place the Milky Way's
population of multiphase, accreting High Velocity Clouds (HVCs) into a
global context by identifying analogous structures around other
galaxies. Our program is designed to make optimal use of the unique
capabilities of COS to address our science goals and also generate a
rich dataset of other absorption-line systems.

STIS/CC 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.

WFC3/ACS/IR 11563

Galaxies at z~7-10 in the Reionization Epoch: Luminosity Functions to
0.2L* from Deep IR Imaging of the HUDF and HUDF05 Fields

The first generations of galaxies were assembled around redshifts
z~7-10+, just 500-800 Myr after recombination, in the heart of the
reionization of the universe. We know very little about galaxies in
this period. Despite great effort with HST and other telescopes, less
than ~15 galaxies have been reliably detected so far at z7,
contrasting with the ~1000 galaxies detected to date at z~6, just
200-400 Myr later, near the end of the reionization epoch. WFC3 IR can
dramatically change this situation, enabling derivation of the galaxy
luminosity function and its shape at z~7-8 to well below L*,
measurement of the UV luminosity density at z~7-8 and z~8-9, and
estimates of the contribution of galaxies to reionization at these
epochs, as well as characterization of their properties (sizes,
structure, colors). A quantitative leap in our understanding of early
galaxies, and the timescales of their buildup, requires a total sample
of ~100 galaxies at z~7-8 to ~29 AB mag. We can achieve this with 192
WFC3 IR orbits on three disjoint fields (minimizing cosmic variance):
the HUDF and the two nearby deep fields of the HUDF05. Our program
uses three WFC3 IR filters, and leverages over 600 orbits of existing
ACS data, to identify, with low contamination, a large sample of over
100 objects at z~7-8, a very useful sample of ~23 at z~8-9, and limits
at z~10. By careful placement of the WFC3 IR and parallel ACS
pointings, we also enhance the optical ACS imaging on the HUDF and a
HUDF05 field. We stress (1) the need to go deep, which is paramount to
define L*, the shape, and the slope alpha of the luminosity function
(LF) at these high redshifts; and (2) the far superior performance of
our strategy, compared with the use of strong lensing clusters, in
detecting significant samples of faint z~7-8 galaxies to derive their
luminosity function and UV ionizing flux. Our recent z~7.4 NICMOS
results show that wide-area IR surveys, even of GOODS-like depth,
simply do not reach faint enough at z~7-9 to meet the LF and UV flux
objectives. In the spirit of the HDF and the HUDF, we will waive any
proprietary period, and will also deliver the reduced data to STScI.
The proposed data will provide a Legacy resource of great value for a
wide range of archival science investigations of galaxies at redshifts
z~2-9. The data are likely to remain the deepest IR/optical images
until JWST is launched, and will provide sources for spectroscopic
follow up by JWST, ALMA and EVLA.

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/IR/WFC/ACS/UV 12061

Cosmic Assembly Near-IR Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey --
GOODS-South Field, Early Visits of SNe Search

This survey will document the first third of galactic evolution from
z=8 to 1.5 and test for evolution in the properties of Type Ia
supernovae to z~2 by imaging more than 250, 000 galaxies with WFC3/IR
and ACS. Five premier multi-wavelength regions are selected from
within the Spitzer SEDS survey, providing complementary IRAC data down
to 26.5 AB mag, a unique resource for stellar masses at high
redshifts. The use of five widely separated fields mitigates cosmic
variance and yields statistically robust samples of galaxies down to
10^9 M_Sun out to z~8.

We adopt a two-tiered strategy with a "Wide" component (roughly 2
orbits deep over ~0.2 sq. degrees) and a "Deep" component (roughly 12
orbits deep over ~0.04 sq. degrees). Combining these with ultra-deep
imaging from the Cycle 17 HUDF09 program yields a three-tiered
strategy for efficient sampling of both rare/bright and faint/common
objects.

Three of the Wide-survey fields are located in COSMOS, EGS, and
UKIDSS/UDS. Each of these consists of roughly 3x15 WFC3/IR tiles. Each
WFC3 tile will be observed for 2 orbits, with single orbits separated
in time to allow a search for high-redshift Type Ia SNe. The co-added
exposure times will be approximately 2/3 orbit in J (F125W) and 4/3
orbit in H (F160W). ACS parallels overlap most of the WFC3 area and
will consist of roughly 2/3 orbits in V (F606W) and 4/3 orbit in I
(F814W). Because of the larger area of ACS, this results in effective
exposures that are twice as long (4/3 in V, 8/3 in I), making a very
significant improvement to existing ACS mosaics in COSMOS and EGS and
creating a new ACS mosaic in UDS/UKIDSS where none now exists. Other
Wide-survey components are located in the GOODS fields (North and
South) surrounding the Deep-survey areas.

The Deep-survey fields cover roughly half of each GOODS field, with
exact areas and placements to be determined as part of the Phase-2
process. Each WFC3/IR tile within the Deep regions will receive
approximately 12 orbits of exposure time split between Y (F105W), J
(F125W), and H (F160W). Multi-epoch imaging will provide an efficient
search for high-redshift Type Ia SNe here also. ACS parallels are also
taken in the Deep regions, with the goal of assembling enough total
exposure time in F850LP and other filters to identify high redshift
z6 galaxies in concert with WFC3/IR data using the Lyman break
technique.

A portion of the GOODS-N campaign will take place while the field is
in the HST Continuous Viewing Zone (CVZ). The bright time in those
orbits will be used to obtain UV imaging with WFC3 in the F275W and
F336W filters. The exact number of orbits will not be known until
Phase-2 planning is complete, but we anticipate that it will be
possible to schedule at least 100 orbits, resulting in 5-sigma
point-source depths of 26.6, 26.4 in F275W and F336W, respectively.
The science goals include measuring the Lyman-continuum escape
fractions for galaxies at z~2.5 and identifying Lyman-break galaxies
at z~2-3.

The Type Ia supernova search program in this proposal is integrated
with that in the Postman cluster MCT proposal, with this one stressing
the more distant supernovae. A combined follow-up program will provide
light curves and grism spectra of 15-20 of the best candidates at
redshifts 1z2. The observing configuration for the follow up will
depend on the redshift of the supernova, and will likely include a
grism observation with either ACS G800L, WFC3-IR G102, or G141, and
light curves observed with F850LP, WFC3-IR F125W, and F160W.

The new data will be used to answer many urgent questions in galaxy
evolution and cosmology. In the reionization era, we will identify
hundreds of high-confidence z7 galaxies in the Deep regions, in
addition to hundreds of highly-luminous candidates in the Wide regions
for detailed follow-up. These samples will be used to construct a
unified picture of star-formation and stellar mass buildup in early
galaxies. Extremely deep X-ray data will reveal distant AGNs to z6,
shedding light on the earliest stages of BH growth. In the peak star
formation/QSO era, z~2, we will document the properties of early
disks, the build-up of bulges, the evolution of mergers, and the
nature of AGN hosts to construct an integrated model for structural
evolution, star formation quenching, and AGN triggering. Finally, the
~8 Type Ia SNe found beyond z1.5 in the supernova programs will
establish the constancy of these standard candles independent of dark
energy and yield the first measurement of the Type Ia rate at z~2 to
distinguish among different progenitor models. Lower-redshift SNe Ia
at 1z1.5 will be used to measure the evolution of dark energy.

This program takes full advantage of MCTP mode to fulfill Hubble's
legacy for deep extragalactic science and prepare the way for JWST.

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 11908

Cycle 17: UVIS Bowtie Monitor

Ground testing revealed an intermittent hysteresis type effect in the
UVIS detector (both CCDs) at the level of ~1%, lasting hours to days.
Initially found via an unexpected bowtie-shaped feature in flatfield
ratios, subsequent lab tests on similar e2v devices have since shown
that it is also present as simply an overall offset across the entire
CCD, i.e., a QE offset without any discernable pattern. These lab
tests have further revealed that overexposing the detector to count
levels several times full well fills the traps and effectively
neutralizes the bowtie. Each visit in this proposal acquires a set of
three 3x3 binned internal flatfields: the first unsaturated image will
be used to detect any bowtie, the second, highly exposed image will
neutralize the bowtie if it is present, and the final image will allow
for verification that the bowtie is gone.

WFC3/UVIS/IR 11644

A Dynamical-Compositional Survey of the Kuiper Belt: A New Window Into
the Formation of the Outer Solar System

The eight planets overwhelmingly dominate the solar system by mass,
but their small numbers, coupled with their stochastic pasts, make it
impossible to construct a unique formation history from the dynamical
or compositional characteristics of them alone. In contrast, the huge
numbers of small bodies scattered throughout and even beyond the
planets, while insignificant by mass, provide an almost unlimited
number of probes of the statistical conditions, history, and
interactions in the solar system. To date, attempts to understand the
formation and evolution of the Kuiper Belt have largely been dynamical
simulations where a hypothesized starting condition is evolved under
the gravitational influence of the early giant planets and an attempt
is made to reproduce the current observed populations. With little
compositional information known for the real Kuiper Belt, the test
particles in the simulation are free to have any formation location
and history as long as they end at the correct point. Allowing
compositional information to guide and constrain the formation,
thermal, and collisional histories of these objects would add an
entire new dimension to our understanding of the evolution of the
outer solar system. While ground based compositional studies have hit
their flux limits already with only a few objects sampled, we propose
to exploit the new capabilities of WFC3 to perform the first ever
large-scale dynamical-compositional study of Kuiper Belt Objects
(KBOs) and their progeny to study the chemical, dynamical, and
collisional history of the region of the giant planets. The
sensitivity of the WFC3 observations will allow us to go up to two
magnitudes deeper than our ground based studies, allowing us the
capability of optimally selecting a target list for a large survey
rather than simply taking the few objects that can be measured, as we
have had to do to date. We have carefully constructed a sample of 120
objects which provides both overall breadth, for a general
understanding of these objects, plus a large enough number of objects
in the individual dynamical subclass to allow detailed comparison
between and within these groups. These objects will likely define the
core Kuiper Belt compositional sample for years to come. While we have
many specific results anticipated to come from this survey, as with
any project where the field is rich, our current knowledge level is
low, and a new instrument suddenly appears which can exploit vastly
larger segments of the population, the potential for discovery -- both
anticipated and not -- is extraordinary.

WFC3/UVIS/IR 11702

Search for Very High-z Galaxies with WFC3 Pure Parallel

WFC3 will provide an unprecedented probe to the early universe beyond
the current redshift frontier. Here we propose a pure parallel program
using this new instrument to search for Lyman-break galaxies at
6.5z8.8 and to probe the epoch of reionization, a hallmark event in
the history of the early universe. We request 200 orbits, spreading
over 30 ~ 50 high Galactic latitude visits (|b|20deg) that last for 4
orbits and longer, resulting a total survey area of about 140~230
square arcminute. Based on our understanding of the new HST parallel
observation scheduling process, we believe that the total number of
long-duration pure parallel visits in Cycle 17 should be sufficient to
accommodate our program. We waive all proprietary rights to our data,
and will also make the enhanced data products public in a timely
manner.

(1) We will use both the UVIS and the IR channels, and do not need to
seek optical data from elsewhere.

(2) Our program will likely triple the size of the probable candidate
samples at z~7 and z~8, and will complement other targeted programs
aiming at the similar redshift range.

(3) Being a pure parallel program, our survey will only make very
limited demand on the scarce HST resources. More importantly, as the
pure parallel pointings will be at random sight-lines, our program
will be least affected by the bias due to the large scale structure
("cosmic variance").

(4) We aim at the most luminous LBG population, and will address the
bright-end of the luminosity function at z~8 and z~7. We will
constrain the value of L* in particular, which is critical for
understanding the star formation process and the stellar mass assembly
history in the first few hundred million years of the universe.

(5) The candidates from our survey, most of which will be the
brightest ones that any surveys would be able to find, will have the
best chance to be spectroscopically confirmed at the current 8--10m
telescopes.

(6) We will also find a large number of extremely red, old galaxies at
intermediate redshifts, and the fine spatial resolution offered by the
WFC3 will enable us constrain their formation history based on the
study of their morphology, and hence shed light on their connection to
the very early galaxies in the universe.

 




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