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Daily Report #5010



 
 
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Old January 12th 10, 02:18 PM posted to sci.astro.hubble
Bassford, Lynn[_2_]
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Default Daily Report #5010

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to Collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT #5010

PERIOD COVERED: 5am January 11 - 5am January 12, 2010 (DOY 011/10:00z-012/10:00z)

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED

ACS/WFC3 11599

Distances of Planetary Nebulae from SNAPshots of Resolved Companions

Reliable distances to individual planetary nebulae (PNe) in the Milky
Way are needed to advance our understanding of their spatial
distribution, birthrates, influence on galactic chemistry, and the
luminosities and evolutionary states of their central stars (CSPN).
Few PNe have good distances, however. One of the best ways to remedy
this problem is to find resolved physical companions to the CSPN and
measure their distances by photometric main-sequence fitting. We have
previously used HST to identify and measure probable companions to 10
CSPN, based on angular separations and statistical arguments only. We
now propose to use HST to re-observe 48 PNe from that program for
which additional companions are possibly present. We then can use the
added criterion of common proper motion to confirm our original
candidate companions and identify new ones in cases that could not
confidently be studied before. We will image the region around each
CSPN in the V and I bands, and in some cases in the B band. Field
stars that appear close to the CSPN by chance will be revealed by
their relative proper motion during the 13+ years since our original
survey, leaving only genuine physical companions in our improved and
enlarged sample. This study will increase the number of Galactic PNe
with reliable distances by 50 percent and improve the distances to PNe
with previously known companions.

ACS/WFC3 11879

CCD Daily Monitor (Part 1)

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 352 orbits (22 weeks) from 31 August
2009 to 31 January 2010.

COS/FUV 11895

FUV Detector Dark Monitor

The purpose of this proposal is to monitor the FUV detector dark rate
by taking long science exposures without illuminating the detector.
The detector dark rate and spatial distribution of counts will be
compared to pre-launch and SMOV data in order to verify the nominal
operation of the detector. Variations of count rate as a function of
orbital position will be analyzed to find dependence of dark rate on
proximity to the SAA. Dependence of dark rate as function of time will
also be tracked.

COS/NUV 11894

NUV Detector Dark Monitor

The purpose of this proposal is to measure the NUV detector dark rate
by taking long science exposures with no light on the detector. The
detector dark rate and spatial distribution of counts will be compared
to pre-launch and SMOV data in order to verify the nominal operation
of the detector. Variations of count rate as a function of orbital
position will be analyzed to find dependence of dark rate on proximity
to the SAA. Dependence of dark rate as function of time will also be
tracked.

COS/NUV/FUV/WFC3/UVIS/IR 11533

COS-GTO: Accretion Flows and Winds of Pre-Main Sequence Stars

COS will obtain spectra of T Tauri stars to study accretion flows and
wind absorption features in ultraviolet emission lines. Observations
of several T Tauri stars with different inclination angles with
respect to the line of sight will determine the temperature
distributions, flow velocities, and column densities of both inflows
and outflows for these stars.

NIC2/WFC3/IR 11548

Infrared Imaging of Protostars in the Orion A Cloud: The Role of
Environment in Star Formation

We propose NICMOS and WFC3/IR observations of a sample of 252
protostars identified in the Orion A cloud with the Spitzer Space
Telescope. These observations will image the scattered light escaping
the protostellar envelopes, providing information on the shapes of
outflow cavities, the inclinations of the protostars, and the overall
morphologies of the envelopes. In addition, we ask for Spitzer time to
obtain 55-95 micron spectra of 75 of the protostars. Combining these
new data with existing 3.6 to 70 micron photometry and forthcoming
5-40 micron spectra measured with the Spitzer Space Telescope, we will
determine the physical properties of the protostars such as envelope
density, luminosity, infall rate, and outflow cavity opening angle. By
examining how these properties vary with stellar density (i.e.
clusters vs. groups vs. isolation) and the properties of the
surrounding molecular cloud; we can directly measure how the
surrounding environment influences protostellar evolution, and
consequently, the formation of stars and planetary systems.
Ultimately, this data will guide the development of a theory of
protostellar evolution.

STIS/CCD 11844

CCD Dark Monitor Part 1

The purpose of this proposal is to monitor the darks for the STIS CCD.

STIS/CCD 11846

CCD Bias Monitor-Part 1

The purpose of this proposal is to 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 11852

STIS CCD Spectroscopic Flats C17

The purpose of this proposal is to obtain pixel-to-pixel lamp flat
fields for the STIS CCD in spectroscopic mode.

WFC3/IR 11694

Mapping the Interaction Between High-Redshift Galaxies and the
Intergalactic Environment

With the commissioning of the high-throughput large-area camera
WFC3/IR, it is possible for the first time to undertake an efficient
survey of the rest-frame optical morphologies of galaxies at the peak
epoch of star formation in the universe. We therefore propose deep
WFC3/IR imaging of over 320 spectroscopically confirmed galaxies
between redshift 1.6 z 3.4 in well-studied fields which lie along
the line of sight to bright background QSOs. The spectra of these
bright QSOs probe the IGM in the vicinity of each of the foreground
galaxies along the line of sight, providing detailed information on
the physical state of the gas at large galactocentric radii. In
combination with our densely sampled UV/IR spectroscopy, stellar
population models, and kinematic data in these fields, WFC3/IR imaging
data will permit us to construct a comprehensive picture of the
structure, dynamics, and star formation properties of a large
population of galaxies in the early universe and their effect upon
their cosmological environment.

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/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.

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:

#18796-0 R/T OBAD to Correct Attitude Error @012/06:05z

COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None)

SCHEDULED SUCCESSFUL
FGS GSAcq 06 06
FGS REAcq 09 09
OBAD with Maneuver 06 06

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)
 




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