Daily 3737

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT # 3737

PERIOD COVERED: DOY 320

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED

ACS/HRC 10238

The nature of quasar host galaxies: combining ACS imaging and VLT
Integral Field Spectroscopy.

We propose to perform ACS/F606W imaging of a complete sample of 29
quasar host galaxies {0.08z0.34}. The spatial resolving power of the
ACS HRC, in combination with the acquisition of empirical PSFs and
advanced deconvolution techniques, will allow to study in detail
structures on scales of a few tens of parsecs, and to access the inner
regions of the host galaxies, even in the presence of bright nuclei.
We demonstrate that combining deep spectroscopy with high resolution
imaging in stable PSF conditions definitely constitutes the solution
to characterize the complex physical properties of quasar host
galaxies, from their outer regions to the inner 0.1 kpc, where most of
the information on the interplay between quasars and their hosts is
hidden. We propose to combine new ACS images with existing Integral
Field VLT Spectra. We will map the stellar and gas velocity fields in
2D, constrain the mass models, derive the radial host M/L ratios, map
and characterize the stellar populations and the ionization state of
the gas.

ACS/HRC 10272

A Snapshot Survey of the Sites of Recent, Nearby Supernovae

During the past few years, robotic {or nearly robotic} searches for
supernovae {SNe}, most notably our Lick Observatory Supernova Search
{LOSS}, have found hundreds of SNe, many of them in quite nearby
galaxies {cz 4000 km/s}. Most of the objects were discovered before
maximum brightness, and have follow-up photometry and spectroscopy;
they include some of the best-studied SNe to date. We propose to
conduct a snapshot imaging survey of the sites of some of these nearby
objects, to obtain late-time photometry that {through the shape of the
light and color curves} will help reveal the origin of their lingering
energy. The images will also provide high- resolution information on
the local environment of SNe that are far superior to what we can
procure from the ground. For example, we will obtain color-color and
color- magnitude diagrams of stars in these SN sites, to determine
their progenitor masses and constraints on the reddening. Recovery of
the SNe in the new HST images will also allow us to actually pinpoint
their progenitor stars in cases where pre-explosion images exist in
the HST archive. Use of ACS rather than WFPC2 will make our snapshot
survey even more valuable than our Cycle 9 survey. This Proposal is
complementary to our Cycle 13 archival proposal, in which we outline a
plan for using existing HST images to glean information about SN
environments.

ACS/HRC 10377

ACS Earth Flats

High signal sky flats will be obtained by observing the bright Earth
with the HRC and WFC. These observations will be used to verify the
accuracy of the flats currently used by the pipeline and will provide
a comparison with flats derived via other techniques: L-flats from
stellar observations, sky flats from stacked GO observations, and
internal flats using the calibration lamps. Weekly coronagraphic
monitoring is required to assess the changing position of the spots.

ACS/HRC 9733

Direct imaging of the progenitors of massive, core-collapse supernovae

Modern supernovae searches in the nearby Universe are discovering
large numbers of SNe which have massive star progenitors {Types II, Ib
and Ic}. The extensive HST {and ground-based} image archives of
galaxies within ~20Mpc enables their individual bright stellar content
to be resolved. As massive, evolved stars are the most luminous single
objects in a galaxy, the progenitors of core-collapse SNe should be
directly detectable on pre-explosion images. Within the last two
cycles we have set direct mass-limits on three type II-P supernovae
using HST images, and already these can be used to constrain
theoretical models of pre-supernova stellar evolution which predict
which stars cause which of the supernovae types. We request time to
continue this successful project, and require ACS observations of
future SNe which are discovered in galaxies closer than 20Mpc which
have pre-explosion HST archive images available. These ToO
observations will allow the SNe to be precisely positioned on the
pre-explosion frames with the required astrometric accuracy of around
0.05", and allow 3-colour photometry of the surrounding stellar
populations for reddening estimations. The goal of this project is to
directly identify the progenitor stars of core-collapse supernovae. We
will compare the progenitor detections or luminosity limits to our own
stellar evolutionary tracks in order to determine masses or
restrictive mass-limits for the progenitors.

ACS/HRC/WFC 10367

ACS CCDs daily monitor- cycle 13 - part 1

This program consists of a set of basic tests to monitor, the read
noise, the development of hot pixels and test for any source of noise
in ACS CCD detectors. The files, biases and dark will be used to
create reference files for science calibration. This programme will be
for the entire lifetime of ACS.

ACS/WFC 10325

Low Redshift Cluster Gravitational Lensing Survey

This proposal has two main scientific goals: to determine the dark
matter distribution of massive galaxy clusters, and to observe the
high redshift universe using these clusters as powerful cosmic
telescopes. Deep, g, r, i, z imaging of a sample of low-z {0.2-0.4}
clusters will yield a large sample of lensed background galaxies with
reliable photometric redshifts. By combining strong and weak lensing
constraints with the photometric redshift information it will be
possible to precisely measure the cluster dark matter distribution
with an unprecedented combination of high spatial resolution and area
coverage, avoiding many of the uncertainties which plague ground-based
studies and yielding definitive answers about the structure of massive
dark matter haloes. In addition, the cosmological parameters can be
constrained in a largely model independent way using the multiply
lensed objects due to the dependence of the Einsteinng radius on the
distance to the source. We can also expect to detect several highly
magnified dropout galaxies behind the clusters in the redshift ranges
4-5 5-6 and 7-8, corresponding to a drop in the flux in the g, r, and
i bands relative to longer wavelength. We will obtain the best
information to date on the giant arcs already known in these clusters,
making possible detailed, pixel-by-pixel studies of their star
formation rate, dust distribution and structural components, including
spiral arms, out to a redshift of around z~2.5 in several passbands.

FGS 10110

Parallaxes of Extreme Halo Subgiants: Calibrating Globular Cluster
Distances and the Ages of the Oldest Stars

The ages of the oldest stars are a key constraint on the evolution of
our Galaxy, the history of star formation, and cosmological models.
These ages are usually determined from globular clusters. However, it
is alternatively possible to determine ages of extreme Population II
subgiants in the solar neighborhood based on trigonometric parallaxes,
without any recourse to clusters. This approach completely avoids the
vexing issues of cluster distances, reddenings, and chemical
compositions. There are 3 known nearby, extremely metal-deficient Pop
II subgiants with Hipparcos parallax errors of 6-11% which are
available for such age determinations. At present, based on the latest
isochrones, the derived ages of these stars {HD 84937, HD 132475, and
HD 140283} are all close to 14 Gyr, uncomfortably close to or higher
than current estimates of the age of the universe. However, the errors
in the Hipparcos parallaxes imply uncertainties of at least 2 Gyr in
the ages of the 3 stars. We propose to measure parallaxes of these
three Pop II subgiants using HST's Fine Guidance Sensor 1R. We expect
to reduce the Hipparcos parallax error bars by factors of 5-6,
providing the most stringent test yet of current theoretical stellar
models of Pop II stars and pushing the age uncertainties to below 0.5
Gyr. These data will also provide a major new constraint on the
distance scale of globular clusters, with wide implications for
stellar evolution and the calibration of Pop II standard candles.

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.

NIC2 10149

The Coevolution of Supermassive Black Holes and Galaxies at z~3

The existence of strong correlations between the mass of supermassive
black holes and galaxy bulge properties implies that there is an
intimate connection between their formation and evolution. How do
supermassive black holes grow and how did the correlations come about?
Is the growth of supermassive black holes coeval with the growth of
the bulge, and is a bulge necessary for AGN activity at high z? We
propose to use HST NICMOS to image 9 low-luminosity broad-line AGNs at
z~3 in the restframe B-band, identified through the Lyman-break
technique. This sample is unique because the AGN luminosities are
comparable to Seyfert-like nuclei at z~3, and thus are some of the
lowest that have been selected optically. Because of the low total
luminosity of the sample, the hosts are likely to be Lyman-break
galaxies, which are believed to be the progenitor galaxies of the
local Hubble sequence. The goal is to directly detect their host
galaxies and to separate the AGN, in order to study the host galaxy
morphology and luminosity. From measurement of the bulge luminosity
and black hole mass {through available spectra}, we will study the
black hole-bulge coevolution out to z~3. We will also compare the
luminosity and morphology of these faint AGN hosts with the more
luminous and massive host galaxies found in previous HST studies of
quasars.

NIC3 10383

NICMOS Cycle 13 Grism Re-Calibration

This cycle 13 proposal will quantify the repeatability of grism
observations with a star that has already been observed in cycle 12.
CYCLE 12 RESULTS AND CYCLE 13 FOLLOW UP: All cycle 12 data was
successfully acquired. One problem is that the repeatability as
measured by the comparison of the cycle 11 to the cycle 12
observations of P330E is only +/- 2%, as shown in Fig. 1 {attached to
the Phase 1 distribution}. We have extracted and corrected the cycle
12 data for intra-pixel and pixel gap sensitivity variations at each
of the 15 dither positions. The rms of these sets of 15 dithered
spectra, ie the scatter about the mean of an individual spectrum, is
typically 1-2- percent, making the error in the mean 0.5-percent for
all the pixels in the central 90- percent of the wavelength
coverage.The goal and expectation is for repeatability to better than
1%. The somewhat poorer results may be attributed to flat field
differences between the Thompson dither strategy and that used in
9998; or perhaps, there is some synoptic change in the system
throughput. In order to distinguish these possibilities and hopefully
recover a repeatability of 1%, an observation of one of the cycle 12
standards must be repeated early in cycle 13, using the same dither
strategy as 9998. To minimize the measured amount of any synoptic
sensitivity change, the observations should be made before the end of
2004. The bulk of the cycle 12 observations were made in the 2004
January through 2004 July time frame, so that the ideal repeatability
target was observed early in 2004 and can be observed again this fall.
The bright Sloan standard BD+17d4708 is the ideal selection, having
been previously observed on 04Jan10. P330E would be a good choice,
except that it was previously observed too recently on 04Jun19 to
measure any sensitivity change back to 04 Jan; and the scheduling
would be rushed to get it before going into solar avoidance in
October.

FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:

Significant Spacecraft Anomalies: (The following are preliminary
reports of potential non-nominal performance that will be
investigated.) None

COMPLETED OPS REQs:
17307-0 All SPAs on for DOY 321 @ 320/14:14z
17312-0 Load, Dump, Compare TGS SPC Macro @ 320/19:14z

OPS NOTES EXECUTED: None

SCHEDULED SUCCESSFUL FAILURE TIMES
FGS Gsacq 08 08
FGS Reacq 08 08
FHST Update 14 14
LOSS of LOCK



SIGNIFICANT EVENTS:

SPA configuration pre- and post-TGS On-orbit Test phases: As a
precautionary measure, all SPAs will be placed on-line prior to each
phase of the TGS on-orbit test. Following each phase and due to
increasing solar intensity through the fall/winter months, the number
of off-line strings may be increased from 10 to 12 strings.
Successfully closed and unmasked -AA and +D SPAs, followed by
reordering the command stack and finally patched SMAC01 to remove the
-AA and +D SPA Trim Relay close commands @ 320/13:55Z (OR 17307 with
attached IP-068 script). Successfully uplinked, dumped, and verified
TGS SPC Macro On-Orbit Table load @ 320/19:39:29Z (OR 17312).

Two Gyro On-Orbit Test #2, Day 1 scheduled 321/12:10Z (OR 17311-1 with
TOOT2-D1 Script and IP-069).