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DAILY REPORT #3904
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to collect World Class Science
DAILY REPORT #3904 PERIOD COVERED: UT July 18, 2005 (DOY 199) OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED 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/WFC 10389 ACS CCDs daily monitor - Cycle 13 - Part 2 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 program will be for the entire lifetime of ACS. ACS/WFC 10235 Dark vs. luminous matter in the CenA/M83 galaxy complex The distribution of dark vs. luminous matter on scales of 0.1-1.0 Mpc remains poorly understood. For a nearby group, the total mass can be determined from the radius of "the zero-velocity surface", which separates the group from the general Hubble flow. This new method requires the measurement of accurate distances and radial velocities of galaxies around the group, but gives total mass estimates independent of assumptions about the state of relaxation or orbital characteristics. The mass pertains to the group at the full scale to which it is bound. Upon application in several nearest groups, the method yields mass estimates in agreement with the sum of the virial masses of subcomponents. However, the typical total M/L ratio for the nearby groups of ~30 Mo/Lo implies a local mean density of matter which is only 1/7 the canonical global density . The nearby complex of galaxies around Cen A and M83 resembles our Local Group by the dumb-bell concentration of objects around a pair of dominant galaxies. Accurate distances have been acquired recently for ~20 group members by the TRGB method using HST. We will measure TRGB distances to the 17 remaining galaxies in the region. These observations will constrain the dynamical state of the halo surrounding the nearest giant E-galaxy Cen A, providing a comparison with the halos of the nearest spirals. ACS/WFC 10374 ACS photometric Stability This program consists of three parts. In the first part we will observe a subset of the ACS white dwarfs with HRC and ACS to verify repeatability to ~0.2%, because the filter shifts are based on photometric differences between stars of ~1%. These observations are also required to establish relative magnitudes of the primary WD standards at the 0.1% level. Targets should be GD153 and G191B2B, which seems to have the largest V mag error of ~0.008 mag. One orbit on the most important filters, including the grism and the prisms, should be expended with each camera for both stars for a total of 4 orbits. In the second part will observe with HRC and WFC a solar analog star, P330E, to estimate any shifts in the short and the long wavelength cutoffs of selected filters. Complete filter bandpasses can be derived directly from the ratio of grism observations with and without the filter in place. The grism is on filter wheel 1, while four filters of interest F330W, F344N, F660N, and F814W are on wheel 2. Each grism observation requires 3 settings: filter alone, filter+grism, and grism alone. In the third part we obtain high S/N photometric and spectroscopic observations of three red stars, VB-8 {M7}, 2M0038+18 {L3.5} and 2M0559-14 {T5} with HRC and WFC to verify the photometry at the new standard position and to obtain accurate calibration {1% or better} of the grism spectra. ACS/WFC/WFPC2 10241 An ACS H-alpha Survey of the Carina Nebula We propose an H-alpha ACS imaging survey covering 540 square arcminutes of the Carina Nebula, including an unbiased survey of the bright core, and several prominent dust pillars in the rich southern region of the nebula. Carina provides an important link between well-studied nearby H II regions like Orion, and more distant mini-starbusts like 30 Doradus. CVZ orbits will allow extremely efficient use of HST to map a large area of this complex and important region -- more than 95 percent of the proposed survey will be observed by HST for the first time. This survey will provide a complete census of microjets, proplyds, and silhouette disks with diameters as small as 200 AU, enough to spatially resolve disks like those in Orion, and will provide the first catalog of outflows {jets} from embedded low-mass stars, thin filamentary shocks, and wind-wind collisions in Carina. An accurate census of these phenomena is needed to characterize the star formation activity and gas dynamics as a function of position in the nebula, and to determine if models for protoplanetary disk evaporation from Orion are applicable in more extreme regions. Our previous ground-based optical and IR surveys have already revealed dozens of candidates for this type of activity -- but this is just the tip of the iceberg. Our proposed HST/ACS survey promises to be a bonanza for understanding ongoing low-mass star formation influenced by extremely high-mass stars. 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 10147 Detecting the elusive low mass companion around epsilon Indi We propose coronagraphic NICMOS observations of the nearby {d = 3.6 pc} K5V star epsilon Indi {HD 209100} to search for the unknown companion which causes a low amplitude radial velocity {RV} trend in our 11 years of precise Doppler measurements. This RV data set places a lower limit of 4.5 AU for the orbital semimajor axis of this companion. Moreover, the fact that the RV trend is lacking any sign of curvature over this long time period clearly points towards a much larger orbital separation. Epsilon Indi also has a T dwarf {binary} companion at a separation of 1400 AU. However, these brown dwarf companions are too distant from the primary to induce the observed RV variation. It is also unlikely that this nearby star has an unknown stellar {M dwarf} companion. The RV signal is thus most probably caused by a yet unknown giant planetary or brown dwarf companion at a separation of more than 5 AU. Because epsilon Indi is so near to the Sun, it constitutes an ideal target for high contrast imaging with NICMOS in its coronagraphic mode. Indeed, NICMOS coronagraphy is capable of detecting objects down to 15 Jupiter masses at separations greater than 2.3 arcseconds {S/N=25} - precisely the separation and mass range indicated by our Doppler spectroscopy. Only 2 orbits of HST/NICMOS observations could directly image the coolest and lowest mass companion ever found around a solar-type star. WFPC2 10359 WFPC2 CYCLE 13 Standard Darks This dark calibration program obtains dark frames every week in order to provide data for the ongoing calibration of the CCD dark current rate, and to monitor and characterize the evolution of hot pixels. Over an extended period these data will also provide a monitor of radiation damage to the CCDs. FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY: Significant Spacecraft Anomalies: (The following are preliminary reports of potential non-nominal performance that will be investigated.) HSTARS: #9893 - GSacq(1,2,1) Resulted in Fine Lock Backup (1,0,1) @199/0252z GSacq(1,2,1) scheduled at 199/02:49:37 resulted in fine lock backup (1,0,1) due to scan step limit exceeded on fgs 2. #9894 - GSACQ(2,1,2) fine lock backup, scan step limit exceeded on FGS @199/1513z GSACQ(2,1,2) at 199/15:08:28 ended in fine lock backup on FGS 2 due to scan step limit exceeded on FGS 1 at 15:12:48. #9895 - ReAcq(2,1,2) loss of lock during acquisition @199/0935z ReAcq(2,1,2) at 199/09:32:17 lost fine lock at 09:35:48 and reacquired at 09:36:15, second attempt was successful. COMPLETED OPS REQUEST: #17475-0 - GenSlew for Proposal 10147- Slot#14 @199/1625z #17476-0 - GenSlew for Proposal 10147- Slot#13 @199/1627z COMPLETED OPS NOTES: #1355-0 - Transfer FSW 2.8A Loads to CMD Queue on all strings @199/2025z SCHEDULED SUCCESSFUL FGS Gsacq 16 16 FGS Reacq 03 03 FHST Update 16 16 SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None) |
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