#1
|
|||
|
|||
Daily 3663
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to collect World Class Science
DAILY REPORT # 3663 PERIOD COVERED: DOY 210 OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED ACS/HRC/WFC 10061 CCD Daily Monitor This program consists of basic tests to monitor, the read noise, the development of hot pixels and test for any source of noise in ACS CCD detectors. This programme will be executed once a day for the entire lifetime of ACS. ACS/WFC 10210 Groups of Dwarf Galaxies: Pools of Mostly Dark Matter? Within 5 Mpc, there are 6 groups with well-known luminous galaxies but there also appears to be a comparable number of groups containing only dwarfs. If these dwarf entities are truly bound then M/L values are an order of magnitude higher than values found for groups with luminous spiral galaxies. There are theoretical reasons to anticipate that low mass halos may frequently be mostly dark. The dynamical influence of low mass halos is negligible in familiar groups with luminous members. By contrast, a study of the dynamics of `groups of dwarfs' may provide direct evidence of the existence of dark matter potential wells with few baryons. The goal of the present study is to gather detailed information on the 3-D distribution of dwarf galaxies suspected to lie within 7 groups of dwarfs within 5 Mpc. Distances with 7% relative accuracy can be measured with the Tip of the Giant Branch method with ACS and integrations within 1 orbit per target. ACS/WFC/WFPC2 9774 Young Massive Clusters in Spiral Galaxies and the Connection with Open Clusters We propose to carry out a census of star clusters in the disks of the nearby spiral galaxies NGC 45, NGC 1313, NGC 4395, NGC 5236 and NGC 7793. Using ACS, we will identify much fainter and older star clusters than possible in previous ground-based surveys, or even in HST imaging of more distant galaxies. For the first time, we will directly explore the connection between young "massive'' {or "super''} star clusters {YMCs} and lower-mass "open'' clusters in different star forming environments. We will test the universality of the luminosity- and mass functions of stellar clusters and establish whether the presence of YMCs is a result of a top-heavy cluster luminosity function, or follows from generally richer cluster systems. Our target galaxies span a range of morphological properties, surface brightness and star formation rate. Some of them are known from ground-based studies to host large numbers of YMCs while others have more modest cluster populations. However, previous ground-based data were restricted to luminous clusters younger than about 500 Myr. Here we will extend the search to clusters formed throughout the entire lifetime of each galaxy and reach clusters with properties typical of the Milky Way open clusters. This will allow us to close the gap between studies of extragalactic and Galactic disk clusters. 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 9845 NICMOS Confirmation of a Young Planetary-Mass Companion We have recently discovered a strong candidate for a planetary-mass {~10 Mjup} companion to a young Sun-like star, based on near-IR imaging and spectroscopy with the Keck and Subaru adaptive optics {AO} systems. While the ground-based data strongly suggest that the candidate has a very low effective temperature, and hence a very low mass, they are not definitive. We propose to obtain NICMOS coronagraphy to measure the companion's 1.9um water-band absorption. This feature is a distinct signature of very cool objects and is unobservable from the ground. The combined ground-based and space-based data set will determine whether the companion has a very low temperature, and hence if it is the lowest mass companion found to date by direct imaging. NIC2 9856 A near-IR imaging survey of submm galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts Submillimeter {submm} surveys with SCUBA have identified a population of obscured star-forming and active galaxies at high redshift. Our recent spectroscopic campaigns with the Keck-10m telescope have uncovered redshifts for 37 SCUBA galaxies. The wide redshift range of the radio identified submm population {z=1-4} implies that many varieties of sources driven by different physical processes may be selected in a submm survey. We propose to use HST-NICMOS, ACS to obtain 2-filter images of a sample of 15 SCUBA galaxies with redshifts spanning z=0.8-3.5. Our goal is to understand what physical process {major mergers?} drive their strong evolution and great luminosities, and what the implications are for galaxy evolution models. STIS/CCD 10018 CCD Dark Monitor-Part 2 Monitor the darks for the STIS CCD. STIS/CCD 10020 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. STIS/CCD 10215 STIS follow-up spectroscopy of Seyfert galaxies from Cycle 11 near-UV imaging survey We propose a near-UV {3000-5500AA} long-slit spectroscopic study of a sample of 23 Seyfert galaxies with bright circumnuclear U-band structures, selected from our Cycle 11 ACS near-UV snapshot survey. This survey collected HST U-band images for 78 galaxies, which also have optical and near-IR images available in the archive. We propose to enrich this image database with STIS spectra in the near-UV. The novel aspect of the present proposal is the availability of the near-UV images which will allow us to select the best slit centering and orientation to probe the circumnuclear structures. Our goal is to investigate the nature of these structures, characterizing the circumnuclear continuum and ionizing source of these galaxies at a spatial resolution of $sim$10 parsecs, where we will probe the black hole environment. With the proposed observations, we will derive properties of the circumnuclear stellar populations of the selected galaxies {ages, masses and metallicities}, evolutionary effects connecting the growth of the black hole with the growth of the galaxy bulge, as well as the relation between the black hole mass, accretion rate {luminosity} and the circumnuclear stellar population properties. This dataset will also allow us to study the effect of the bulge and black hole on the evaporation of young star clusters in these galaxies. STIS/CCD 10222 The Next Generation Spectral Library We propose to complete our snapshot program to produce a Next Generation Spectral Library of 600 stars for use in modeling the integrated light of galaxies and clusters. This program is using the low dispersion UV and optical gratings of STIS. The library will be roughly equally divided among four metallicities, very low {[Fe/H] -1.5}, low {-1.5 [Fe/H] -0.5}, near-solar {-0.3 [Fe/H] 0.1}, and super-solar {[Fe/H] 0.2}, well-sampling the entire HR-diagram in each bin. Such a library will surpass all extant compilations and have lasting archival value, well into the Next Generation Space Telescope era. Because of the universal utility and community-broad nature of this venture, we waive the entire proprietary period. STIS/CCD/MA1 9778 Probing Outflowing Winds from the Galactic Center We propose to use two extragalactic sightlines to probe our own Galaxy's "starburst" wind emanating from the Galactic Center. While new infrared imaging and spectroscopy have detected massive stars and very recent {3x10^6 yrs} star formation in the Galactic Center region, only indirect evidence {e.g., radio loops and arcs, bi-conical cavity edges seen in the mid-IR} exists for a wind. However, these winds are routinely detected from starbursts in other galaxies. Far-UV STIS echelle spectroscopy {E140M} of two targets on either side of the Galactic Center at {l, b}={350,-33} and {349, 55} will allow us to map the kinematics of outflowing gas in high ionization species of N V, Si IV and C IV. Similar spectra of distant {1.5-5 kpc}, bright B stars in the same regions of the sky will allow us to remove foreground contaminating components due to the Sco-Cen OB associations. Lower resolution STIS first-order and FUSE spectra show highly redshifted gas in N V and O VI respectively along these sightlines; these new observations will provide three times better spectral resolution {7-10 km/s in the 1185-1580A region} so that the kinematic signature of the outflow can definitely be detected. The foreground stars will allow us to determine whether the outflow is from the Galactic Center or the Sco-Cen OB associations. Absorption line column densities will be used to estimate the outflowing mass and energy by assuming a metallicity and ionizing source for the gas. WFPC2 10071 WFPC2 CYCLE 12 Supplemental Darks Part 3/3 This dark calibration program obtains 3 dark frames every day to provide data for monitoring and characterizing the evolution of hot pixels. FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY: Significant Spacecraft Anomalies: (The following are preliminary reports of potential non-nominal performance that will be investigated.) HSTAR 9491: GS Acquisition (2,1,1) @ 210/21:30:55Z resulted in FL backup (2,0,2) due to SSLE on FGS 1. Under investigation. COMPLETED OPS REQs: None OPS NOTES EXECUTED: None SCHEDULED SUCCESSFUL FAILURE TIMES FGS GSacq 10 10 FGS REacq 07 07 FHST Update 16 16 LOSS of LOCK SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: None |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Monitoring NASA Daily ISS Report | JimO | Space Station | 2 | June 1st 04 10:33 PM |
JimO Speaks on 'Daily Planet' re Hubble | JimO | Policy | 0 | February 11th 04 10:53 PM |
Spirit's daily activities schedule? | Matti Anttila | Policy | 0 | January 15th 04 08:39 AM |
best site for daily schedule of rover activity? | bob | History | 2 | January 5th 04 12:16 PM |
Investor's Business Daily: Rethinking NASA | dougk | Policy | 1 | August 28th 03 12:07 AM |