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Daily Report #5001



 
 
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Old December 29th 09, 04:29 PM posted to sci.astro.hubble
Bassford, Lynn[_2_]
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Posts: 91
Default Daily Report #5001

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to Collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT #5001

PERIOD COVERED: 5am December 28 - 5am December 29, 2009 (DOY 362/10:00z-363/10:00z)

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED

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 11524

COS-GTO: Warm and Hot ISM In and Near the Milky Way

COS G130M and G160M 20, 000 resolution observations will be obtained
for 10 AGNs situated beyond Milky Way high velocity clouds. For all
objects good O VI line profile observations exist from FUSE and high
velocity O VI is detected. The COS observations will be used to obtain
high quality absorption line profiles (S/N ~ 30 to 40) for C IV, Si IV
and N V in the low and high velocity gas toward each AGN. The high
ionization profiles of O VI (from FUSE), N V, C IV, and Si IV will be
compared to low ionization profiles (O I, S II, Si II, Fe II, etc.) in
order to evaluate the physical conditions and origins of the highly
ionized gas in and near the Milky Way at low and high velocity. The
HVCs include Complex C (four lines of sight), Complex A, WD, WB, and
several negative velocity O VI HVCs. Other studies to be undertaken
with this data set include studies of the physical conditions and
abundances in the cool and warm HVC gas and studies of the physical
conditions in low redshift IGM systems detected along the 10 lines of
sight.

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.

FGS 11788

The Architecture of Exoplanetary Systems

Are all planetary systems coplanar? Concordance cosmogony makes that
prediction. It is, however, a prediction of extrasolar planetary
system architecture as yet untested by direct observation for main
sequence stars other than the Sun. To provide such a test, we propose
to carry out FGS astrometric studies on four stars hosting seven
companions. Our understanding of the planet formation process will
grow as we match not only system architecture, but formed planet mass
and true distance from the primary with host star characteristics for
a wide variety of host stars and exoplanet masses.

We propose that a series of FGS astrometric observations with
demonstrated 1 millisecond of arc per-observation precision can
establish the degree of coplanarity and component true masses for four
extrasolar systems: HD 202206 (brown dwarf+planet); HD 128311
(planet+planet), HD 160691 = mu Arae (planet+planet), and HD 222404AB
= gamma Cephei (planet+star). In each case the companion is identified
as such by assuming that the minimum mass is the actual mass. For the
last target, a known stellar binary system, the companion orbit is
stable only if coplanar with the AB binary orbit.

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 11853

Cycle 17 STIS CCD Imaging Flats

This program periodically monitors the STIS CCD imaging mode flat
fields by using the tungsten lamps.

WFC3/ACS/IR 11597

Spectroscopy of IR-Selected Galaxy Clusters at 1 z 1.5

We propose to obtain WFC3 G141 and G102 slitless spectroscopy of
galaxy clusters at 1 z 1.5 that were selected from the IRAC survey
of the Bootes NDWFS field. Our IRAC survey contains the largest sample
of spectroscopically confirmed clusters at z 1. The WFC3 grism data
will measure H-alpha to determine SFR, and fit models to the low
resolution continua to determine stellar population histories for the
brighter cluster members, and redshifts for the red galaxies too faint
for ground-based optical spectroscopy.

WFC3/IR 11202

The Structure of Early-type Galaxies: 0.1-100 Effective Radii

The structure, formation and evolution of early-type galaxies is still
largely an open problem in cosmology: how does the Universe evolve
from large linear scales dominated by dark matter to the highly
non-linear scales of galaxies, where baryons and dark matter both play
important, interacting, roles? To understand the complex physical
processes involved in their formation scenario, and why they have the
tight scaling relations that we observe today (e.g. the Fundamental
Plane), it is critically important not only to understand their
stellar structure, but also their dark-matter distribution from the
smallest to the largest scales. Over the last three years the SLACS
collaboration has developed a toolbox to tackle these issues in a
unique and encompassing way by combining new non-parametric strong
lensing techniques, stellar dynamics, and most recently weak
gravitational lensing, with high-quality Hubble Space Telescope
imaging and VLT/Keck spectroscopic data of early-type lens systems.
This allows us to break degeneracies that are inherent to each of
these techniques separately and probe the mass structure of early-type
galaxies from 0.1 to 100 effective radii. The large dynamic range to
which lensing is sensitive allows us both to probe the clumpy
substructure of these galaxies, as well as their low-density outer
haloes. These methods have convincingly been demonstrated, by our
team, using smaller pilot-samples of SLACS lens systems with HST data.
In this proposal, we request observing time with WFC3 and NICMOS to
observe 53 strong lens systems from SLACS, to obtain complete
multi-color imaging for each system. This would bring the total number
of SLACS lens systems to 87 with completed HST imaging and effectively
doubles the known number of galaxy- scale strong lenses. The deep HST
images enable us to fully exploit our new techniques, beat down
low-number statistics, and probe the structure and evolution of
early-type galaxies, not only with a uniform data-set an order of
magnitude larger than what is available now, but also with a
fully-coherent and self-consistent methodological approach!

WFC3/UVIS 11565

A Search for Astrometric Companions to Very Low-Mass, Population II
Stars

We propose to carry out a Snapshot search for astrometric companions
in a subsample of very low-mass, halo subdwarfs identified within 120
parsecs of the Sun. These ultra-cool M subdwarfs are local
representatives of the lowest-mass H burning objects from the Galactic
Population II. The expected 3-4 astrometric doubles that will be
discovered will be invaluable in that they will be the first systems
from which gravitational masses of metal-poor stars at the bottom of
the main sequence can be directly measured.

WFC3/UVIS 11588

Galaxy-Scale Strong Lenses from the CFHTLS Survey

We aim to investigate the origin and evolution of early-type galaxies
using gravitational lensing, modeling the mass profiles of objects
over a wide range of redshifts. The low redshift (z = 0.2) sample is
already in place following the successful HST SLACS survey; we now
propose to build up and analyze a sample of comparable size (~50
systems) at high redshift (0.4 z 0.9) using HST WFC3 Snapshot
observations of lens systems identified by the SL2S collaboration in
the CFHT legacy survey.

WFC3/UVIS 11594

A WFC3 Grism Survey for Lyman Limit Absorption at z=2

We propose to conduct a spectroscopic survey of Lyman limit absorbers
at redshifts 1.8 z 2.5, using WFC3 and the G280 grism. This
proposal intends to complete an approved Cycle 15 SNAP program
(10878), which was cut short due to the ACS failure. We have selected
64 quasars at 2.3 z 2.6 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
Spectroscopic Quasar Sample, for which no BAL signature is found at
the QSO redshift and no strong metal absorption lines are present at z
2.3 along the lines of sight. The survey has three main

observational goals. First, we will determine the redshift frequency
dn/dz of the LLS over the column density range 16.0 log(NHI) 20.3
cm^-2. Second, we will measure the column density frequency
distribution f(N) for the partial Lyman limit systems (PLLS) over the
column density range 16.0 log(NHI) 17.5 cm^-2. Third, we will
identify those sightlines which could provide a measurement of the
primordial D/H ratio. By carrying out this survey, we can also help
place meaningful constraints on two key quantities of cosmological
relevance. First, we will estimate the amount of metals in the LLS
using the f(N), and ground based observations of metal line
transitions. Second, by determining f(N) of the PLLS, we can constrain
the amplitude of the ionizing UV background at z~2 to a greater
precision. This survey is ideal for a snapshot observing program,
because the on-object integration times are all well below 30 minutes,
and follow-up observations from the ground require minimal telescope
time due to the QSO sample being bright.

WFC3/UVIS 11697

Proper Motion Survey of Classical and SDSS Local Group Dwarf Galaxies

Using the superior resolution of HST, we propose to continue our
proper motion survey of Galactic dwarf galaxies. The target galaxies
include one classical dwarf, Leo II, and six that were recently
identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey data: Bootes I, Canes
Venatici I, Canes Venatici II, Coma Berenices, Leo IV, and Ursa Major
II. We will observe a total of 16 fields, each centered on a
spectroscopically-confirmed QSO. Using QSOs as standards of rest in
measuring absolute proper motions has proven to be the most accurate
and most efficient method. HST is our only option to quickly determine
the space motions of the SDSS dwarfs because suitable ground-based
imaging is only a few years old and such data need several decades to
produce a proper motion. The two most distant galaxies in our sample
will require time baselines of four years to achieve our goal of a
30-50 km/s uncertainty in the tangential velocity; given this and the
finite lifetime of HST, it is imperative that first-epoch observations
be taken in this cycle. The SDSS dwarfs have dramatically lower
surface brightnesses and luminosities than the classical dwarfs.
Proper motions are crucial for determining orbits of the galaxies and
knowing the orbits will allow us to test theories for the formation
and evolution of these galaxies and, more generally, for the formation
of the Local Group.

WFC3/UVIS 11732

The Temperature Profiles of Quasar Accretion Disks

We can now routinely measure the size of quasar accretion disks using
gravitational microlensing of lensed quasars. At optical wavelengths
we observe a size and scaling with black hole mass roughly consistent
with thin disk theory but the sizes are larger than expected from the
observed optical fluxes. One solution would be to use a flatter
temperature profile, which we can study by measuring the wavelength
dependence of the disk size over the largest possible wavelength
baseline. Thus, to understand the size discrepancy and to probe closer
to the inner edge of the disk we need to extend our measurements to UV
wavelengths, and this can only be done with HST. For example, in the
UV we should see significant changes in the optical/UV size ratio with
black hole mass. We propose monitoring 5 lenses spanning a broad range
of black hole masses with well-sampled ground based light curves,
optical disk size measurements and known GALEX UV fluxes during Cycles
17 and 18 to expand from our current sample of two lenses. We would
obtain 5 observations of each target in each Cycle, similar to our
successful strategy for the first two targets.

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).

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: (None)

COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None)

SCHEDULED SUCCESSFUL
FGS GSAcq 10 10
FGS REAcq 8 8
OBAD with Maneuver 8 8

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)
 




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