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Daily 3541
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to collect World Class Science
DAILY REPORT # 3541 PERIOD COVERED: DOY 29 OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED ACS 9984 Cosmic Shear With ACS Pure Parallels Small distortions in the shapes of background galaxies by foreground mass provide a powerful method of directly measuring the amount and distribution of dark matter. Several groups have recently detected this weak lensing by large-scale structure, also called cosmic shear. The high resolution and sensitivity of HST/ACS provide a unique opportunity to measure cosmic shear accurately on small scales. Using 260 parallel orbits in Sloan textiti {F775W} we will measure for the first time: beginlistosetlength sep0cm setlengthemsep0cm setlength opsep0cm em the cosmic shear variance on scales 0.7 arcmin, em the skewness of the shear distribution, and em the magnification effect. endlist Our measurements will determine the amplitude of the mass power spectrum sigma_8Omega_m^0.5, with signal-to-noise {s/n} ~ 20, and the mass density Omega_m with s/n=4. They will be done at small angular scales where non-linear effects dominate the power spectrum, providing a test of the gravitational instability paradigm for structure formation. Measurements on these scales are not possible from the ground, because of the systematic effects induced by PSF smearing from seeing. Having many independent lines of sight reduces the uncertainty due to cosmic variance, making parallel observations ideal. ACS/HRC/WFC 10059 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/HRC/WFC/STIS/CCD 9836 The role of dark matter and intracluster gas in galaxy formation and cluster evolution We propose a fully-sampled mosaic of 41 ACS images to survey galaxy morphologies and measure weak lensing signals to the turn-around radius in the X-ray luminous cluster, MS0451-03 {z=0.54}. The aim is to isolate the physical processes which affect the evolution of cluster galaxy morphologies in the context of well-defined dynamical system. The study will be used in contrast to a successful campaign undertaken in Cycle 9 on a optically-selected target. By comparing morphologies with spectroscopic and Chandra X-ray data, we will quantify the role of the intracluster medium and associated substructures and establish the timescales and physical regions within which the various environmental processes occur. ACS/WFC/WFPC2 9825 An ACS/WFC H-alpha Survey of the Orion Nebula We propose to survey nearly 500 square arcminutes of the Orion Nebula in H-alpha using the ACS/WFC, increasing the sky coverage by an order of magnitude over the sum of all previous HST observations. This survey will, for the first time, sample the majority of young stars and circumstellar environments in the extended Trapezium cluster of 2, 000 low-mass stars. Our primary goal is to determine the survival rate and statistical properties of protoplanetary disks in the type of radiation field and dynamical environment in which most stars are born. The survey will be used to search for new silhouette disks, bright proplyds, microjets, large-scale outflows, and to characterize the properties of these objects as a function of location in the nebula. We will determine accurate proper motions in regions where previous HST data exist. However, 90% of our fields will be observed with HST for the first time. This survey will provide the first complete census of pre-main sequence objects and outflows in an HII region and will constrain the extent of hazards to planet formation in such environments. The images will also provide a legacy for future stellar and nebular variability studies and proper motion measurements by providing a first epoch data base. NIC/NIC3 9865 The NICMOS Parallel Observing Program We propose to continue managing the NICMOS pure parallel program. Based on our experience, we are well prepared to make optimal use of the parallel opportunities. The improved sensitivity and efficiency of our observations will substantially increase the number of line-emitting galaxies detected. As our previous work has demonstrated, the most frequently detected line is Halpha at 0.7z1.9, which provides an excellent measure of current star formation rate. We will also detect star-forming and active galaxies in other redshift ranges using other emission lines. The grism observations will produce by far the best available Halpha luminosity functions over the crucial--but poorly observed--redshift range where galaxies appear to have assembled most of their stellar mass. This key process of galaxy evolution needs to be studied with IR data; we found that observations at shorter wavelengths appear to have missed a large fraction of the star-formation in galaxies, due to dust reddening. We will also obtain deep F110W and F160W images, to examine the space densities and morphologies of faint red galaxies. In addition to carrying out the public parallels, we will make the fully reduced and calibrated images and spectra available on-line, with some ground-based data for the deepest parallel fields included. NICMOS 8791 NICMOS Post-SAA calibration - CR Persistence Part 2 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. STIS 9786 The Next Generation Spectral Library We propose to continue the Cycle 10 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] lt -1.5}, low {[Fe/H] -1.5 to -0.5}, near-solar {[Fe/H] -0.3 to 0.1}, and super-solar {[Fe/H] gt 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 10017 CCD Dark Monitor-Part 1 Monitor the darks for the STIS CCD. STIS/CCD 10019 CCD Bias Monitor - Part 1 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 10023 STIS CCD Spectroscopic Flats C12 Obtain CCD flats on the STIS CCD in spectroscopic mode STIS/CCD 10085 STIS Pure Parallel Imaging Program: Cycle 12 This is the default archival pure parallel program for STIS during cycle 12. STIS/CCD 9776 Black Holes in Big Galaxies with Small Bulges In early-type galaxies the black hole {BH} mass is tightly correlated with the bulge velocity dispersion. This correlation suggests that the BH mass is determined by local processes in the central part of the galaxy. However, the bulge dispersion in these galaxies is correlated with the disk circular speed which in turn correlates with the inferred halo circular speed {the "disk-halo conspiracy"}. For this reason, existing data cannot decide whether the BH mass is set by the bulge dispersion or the disk or halo circular speed. We propose to break this degeneracy by weighing the BH in 3 Sc galaxies in which the ratio of bulge circular speed to bulge velocity dispersion is large, leading to large differences between BH masses predicted from these quantities. These measurements will increase the number of carefully studied Sc bulges from one to four and will determine whether the masses of nuclear BHs are set by {presumably baryonic} processes in galaxy bulges or by {presumably non-baryonic} processes in their dark halos. STIS/CCD/MA1 9784 The rarest of sightlines: probing the metallicity of a DLA with a nearby Low Surface Brightness galaxy We seek to measure the gas-phase metallicity, dust content, and gas kinematics in the interstellar medium {ISM} of the Low Surface Brightness {LSB} galaxy SBS 1543+593, by observing absorption lines in the spectrum of the background QSO HS 1543+5921. The QSO shines directly through the center of the LSB galaxy, producing a damped Lyman-alpha {DLA} line. This is the lowest redshift DLA system known outside of the local group. Specifically, we wish to use the G140M grating of STIS to: a} determine the metallicity of the interstellar gas in the LSB galaxy by accurately measuring the column densities of neutral hydrogen and sulphur; and b} estimate the amount of dust present from a precise measure of the nickel column density. The grating settings chosen to accomplish these goals will also allow us to: c} characterize the kinematics of cool gas in the disk and halo of the LSB galaxy by observing the line profiles of strong low ionization species {Si II, O I, C I, C II, etc.}; and d} search for absorption from NV which may arise in any highly ionized component of the ISM due to accretion of intragroup gas onto the galaxy. WFPC2 10069 WFPC2 CYCLE 12 Supplemental Darks, Part 1/3 This dark calibration program obtains 3 dark frames every day to provide data for monitoring and characterizing the evolution of hot pixels. WFPC2 10084 WFII parallel archive proposal This is the generic target version of the WFPC2 Archival Pure Parallel program. The program will be used to take parallel images of random areas of the sky, following the recommendations of the 2002 Parallels Working Group. WFPC2 9887 HST Observations of Astrophysically Important Visual Binaries This is a continuation of a project begun in Cycle 7 and continued up through Cycle 11. The program consists of annual or biannual WFPC2 or FGS observations of three visual binary stars that will ultimately yield fundamental astrophysical results, once their orbits and masses are determined. Our targets are the following: {1} Procyon {P = 41 yr}, for which our first WFPC2 images yielded an extremely accurate angular separation of the bright F star and its much fainter white-dwarf companion. Combined with ground-based astrometry of the bright star, our observation significantly revised downward the derived masses, and brought Procyon A into excellent agreement with theoretical evolutionary tracks for the first time. With the continued monitoring proposed here, we will obtain masses to an accuracy of better than 1%, providing a testbed for theories of both Sun-like stars and white dwarfs. {2} G 107-70, a close double white dwarf {P = 19 yr} that promises to add two accurate masses to the tiny handful of white-dwarf masses that are directly known from dynamical measurements. {3} Mu Cas {P = 21 yr}, a famous metal-deficient G dwarf for which accurate masses will lead to the stars' helium contents, with cosmological implications. FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY: Significant Spacecraft Anomalies: (The following are preliminary reports of potential non-nominal performance that will be investigated.) None COMPLETED OPS REQs: None OPS NOTES EXECUTED: None SCHEDULED SUCCESSFUL FAILURE TIMES FGS GSacq 9 9 FGS REacq 5 5 FHST Update 14 14 LOSS of LOCK SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: FGS Transient Rate Test (TRT) SU 04974S1 scheduled @ 030/21:05:00Z - 21:35:03Z and SU 04974S2 scheduled 030/22:04:04Z - 22:34:07Z. See OR 17085 with attached TRT Trending Test Script. |
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