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Daily Report #5136



 
 
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Old July 13th 10, 04:53 PM posted to sci.astro.hubble
Cooper, Joe
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Default Daily Report #5136

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to Collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT #5136

PERIOD COVERED: 5am July 12 - 5am July 13, 2010 (DOY 193/09:00z-194/09:00z)

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 9 9
FGS REAcq 7 7
OBAD with Maneuver 8 8

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED:

ACS/WFC 11996

CCD Daily Monitor (Part 3)

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 308 orbits (19.25 weeks) from 21 June
2010 to 1 November 2010.

COS/FUV 11699

On the Evolutionary Status of Extremely Hot Helium Stars - are the
O(He) Stars Successors of the R CrB Stars?

We propose UV spectroscopy of the four unique post-AGB stars of
spectral type O(He) in order to understand the origin of their
peculiar surface abundances. These stars are the only known amongst
the hottest post-AGB stars (effective temperatures 100, 000 K) whose
atmospheres are composed of almost pure helium. This chemistry
markedly differs from that of the hydrogen-deficient post-AGB
evolutionary sequence with objects which have carbon dominated
atmospheres (PG1159 stars and Wolf-Rayet central stars).

While PG1159 and Wolf-Rayet stars are the result of a late
helium-shell flash, this scenario cannot explain the O(He) stars.
Instead, they are possibly double-degenerate mergers. We speculate
that the four O(He) stars represent evolved RCrB stars, which also
have helium-dominated atmospheres. We aim to determine the C, N, O,
and Si abundances precisely, in order to proof this evolutionary link.

COS/FUV 11895

FUV Detector Dark Monitor

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.

STIS/CC 11845

CCD Dark Monitor Part 2

Monitor the darks for the STIS CCD.

STIS/CC 11847

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/CC/MA 11576

Physical Parameters of the Upper Atmosphere of the Extrasolar Planet
HD209458b

One of the most studied extrasolar planet, HD209458b, has revealed
both its lower and upper atmosphere thanks to HST and Spitzer
observatories.

Through transmission spectroscopy technique, several atmospheric
species were detected: NaI, HI, OI and CII. Using STIS archived
transit absorption spectrum from 3000 to 8000 Angstrom, we obtained
detailed constraints on the vertical profile of temperature, pressure
and abundances (Sing et al 2008a, 2008b, Lecavelier et al. 2008b).

By observing in the NUV, from 2300 to 3100 Angstrom, we expect to
obtain new constraints on the physical conditions and the chemical
composition of the upper atmosphe temperature/pressure profile up
to very high in the atmosphere, abundance and condensation altitudes
of new species, and new insight in the atmospheric escape and
ionization state at the upper levels. The observation of four
HD209458b transits with a single E230M setting will give access to
many NUV atomic lines addressing these issues. The proposed
observations will probe, for the first time, in details the atmosphere
of a hot Jupiter, thus bench marking follow up studies.

STIS/CCD 11849

STIS CCD Hot Pixel Annealing

This purpose of this activity is to repair radiation induced hot pixel
damage to the STIS CCD by warming the CCD to the ambient instrument
temperature and annealing radiation-damaged pixels.

Radiation damage creates hot pixels in the STIS CCD Detector. Many of
these hot pixels can be repaired by warming the CCD from its normal
operating temperature near -83 deg. C to the ambient instrument
temperature (~ +5 deg. C) for several hours. The number of hot pixels
repaired is a function of annealing temperature. The effectiveness of
the CCD hot pixel annealing process is assessed by measuring the dark
current behavior before and after annealing and by searching for any
window contamination effects.

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/IR 11631

Binary Brown Dwarfs and the L/T Transition

Brown dwarfs traverse spectral types M, L and T as their atmospheric
structure evolves and they cool into oblivion. This SNAPSHOT program
will obtain WFC3-IR images of 45 nearby late-L and early-T dwarfs to
investigate the nature of the L/T transition. Recent analyses have
suggested that a substantial proportion of late-L and early-T dwarfs
are binaries, comprised of an L dwarf primary and T dwarf secondary.
WFC3-IR observations will let us quantify this suggestion by expanding
coverage to a much larger sample, and permitting comparison of the L/T
binary fraction against ?normal? ultracool dwarfs. Only eight L/T
binaries are currently known, including several that are poorly
resolved: we anticipate at least doubling the number of resolved
systems. The photometric characteristics of additional resolved
systems will be crucial to constraining theoretical models of these
late-type ultracool dwarfs. Finally, our data will also be eminently
suited to searching for extremely low luminosity companions,
potentially even reaching the Y dwarf regime.

WFC3/IR/S/C 11929

IR Dark Current Monitor

Analyses of ground test data showed that dark current signals are more
reliably removed from science data using darks taken with the same
exposure sequences as the science data, than with a single dark
current image scaled by desired exposure time. Therefore, dark current
images must be collected using all sample sequences that will be used
in science observations. These observations will be used to monitor
changes in the dark current of the WFC3-IR channel on a day-to-day
basis, and to build calibration dark current ramps for each of the
sample sequences to be used by Gos in Cycle 17. For each sample
sequence/array size combination, a median ramp will be created and
delivered to the calibration database system (CDBS).

WFC3/UV/ACS/WFC/IR 12057

A Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury - I

We propose to image the north east quadrant of M31 to deep limits in
the UV, optical, and near-IR. HST imaging should resolve the galaxy
into more than 100 million stars, all with common distances and
foreground extinctions. UV through NIR stellar photometry (F275W,
F336W with WFC3/UVIS, F475W and F814W with ACS/WFC, and F110W and
F160W with WFC3/NIR) will provide effective temperatures for a wide
range of spectral types, while simultaneously mapping M31's
extinction. Our central science drivers are to: understand high-mass
variations in the stellar IMF as a function of SFR intensity and
metallicity; capture the spatially-resolved star formation history of
M31; study a vast sample of stellar clusters with a range of ages and
metallicities. These are central to understanding stellar evolution
and clustered star formation; constraining ISM energetics; and
understanding the counterparts and environments of transient objects
(novae, SNe, variable stars, x-ray sources, etc.). As its legacy, this
survey adds M31 to the Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds as a
fundamental calibrator of stellar evolution and star-formation
processes for understanding the stellar populations of distant
galaxies. Effective exposure times are 977s in F275W, 1368s in F336W,
4040s in F475W, 4042s in F814W, 699s in F110W, and 1796s in F160W,
including short exposures to avoid saturation of bright sources. These
depths will produce photon-limited images in the UV. Images will be
crowding-limited in the optical and NIR, but will reach below the red
clump at all radii. The images will reach the Nyquist sampling limit
in F160W, F475W, and F814W.

WFC3/UVIS 11595

Turning Out the Light: A WFC3 Program to Image z2 Damped Lyman Alpha
Systems

We propose to directly image the star-forming regions of z2 damped
Lya systems (DLAs) using the WFC3/UVIS camera on the Hubble Space
Telescope. In contrast to all previous attempts to detect the galaxies
giving rise to high redshift DLAs, we will use a novel technique that
completely removes the glare of the background quasar. Specifically,
we will target quasar sightlines with multiple DLAs and use the higher
redshift DLA as a ``blocking filter'' (via Lyman limit absorption) to
eliminate all FUV emission from the quasar. This will allow us to
carry out a deep search for FUV emission from the lower redshift DLA,
shortward of the Lyman limit of the higher redshift absorber. The
unique filter set and high spatial resolution afforded by WFC3/UVIS
will then enable us to directly image the lower redshift DLA and thus
estimate its size, star- formation rate and impact parameter from the
QSO sightline. We propose to observe a sample of 20 sightlines,
selected primarily from the SDSS database, requiring a total of 40 HST
orbits. The observations will allow us to determine the first FUV
luminosity function of high redshift DLA galaxies and to correlate the
DLA galaxy properties with the ISM characteristics inferred from
standard absorption-line analysis to significantly improve our
understanding of the general DLA population.

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 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).

 




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