Daily #4016

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT #4016

PERIOD COVERED: UT December 27, 2005 (DOY 361)

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED

ACS/WFC 10181

ACS/NICMOS Imaging of Bright Lyman Break Galaxy Candidates from SDSS

The recent surprising discovery of six unusually bright {r~20 mag}
Lyman break galaxy {LBG} candidates with z=2.45-2.80 in the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey {SDSS} raises a number of questions that only HST
can address. Specifically, what is the true nature of these objects,
and what role if any is played by gravitational lensing? We propose to
use the superior resolution and sensitivity of ACS and NICMOS to
obtain deep images of these objects and their environments. Compared
to SDSS images, HST will allow us to determine their morphologies
{extended, point-source, or lensed}, the appearance of their
environments {rich or poor}, and to detect any faint foreground groups
or clusters that might be responsible for lensing these objects. All
outcomes would be intriguing. If the objects are lensed, it increases
from 1 {MS1512- cB58} to 7 the number of normal LBGs bright enough to
study individually. If they are instead unlensed point sources, they
will represent a new class of previously unidentified absorption- line
quasars. Finally, if they are unlensed and extended star-forming
galaxies, they are at least 4mag brighter than L_* LBGs, thus making
them the most luminous star-forming objects yet seen, representing a
heretofore unknown extreme population of objects.

ACS/WFC 10496

Decelerating and Dustfree: Efficient Dark Energy Studies with
Supernovae and Clusters

We propose a novel HST approach to obtain a dramatically more useful
"dust free" Type Ia supernovae {SNe Ia} dataset than available with
the previous GOODS searches. Moreover, this approach provides a
strikingly more efficient search-and-follow-up that is primarily pre-
scheduled. The resulting dark energy measurements do not share the
major systematic uncertainty at these redshifts, that of the
extinction correction with a prior. By targeting massive galaxy
clusters at z 1 we obtain a five-times higher efficiency in
detection of Type Ia supernovae in ellipticals, providing a
well-understood host galaxy environment. These same deep cluster
images then also yield fundamental calibrations required for future
weak lensing and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich measurements of dark energy, as
well as an entire program of cluster studies. The data will make
possible a factor of two improvement on supernova constraints on dark
energy time variation, and much larger improvement in systematic
uncertainty. They will provide both a cluster dataset and a SN Ia
dataset that will be a longstanding scientific resource.

ACS/WFC 10574

Witnessing Galaxy Transformation in Galaxy Groups at z 1

The recent discover of five galaxy groups in the Lynx supercluster
region offers us the exciting opportunity to observe for the first
time groups in the process of collapsing into a merging pair of
clusters at z 1. Our current picture of structure formation suggests
that substantial evolution of galaxy properties can occur in groups
and filaments well before they enter the environs of massive clusters.
However, neither current theoretical models nor observations give us a
complete understanding of the relative importance of the different
physical processes that control the structural and spectral
transformations that occur prior to, during, and after infall into a
dense environment. We propose direct observation of these newly
discovered dynamically young structures in the Lynx region, in order
to provide a critical benchmark in testing not only whether galaxy
evolution occurs mostly prior to entry into the densest regions but
will also constrain the relative importance of initial conditions in
determining the fate of galaxy systems. Our analysis of these proposed
ACS measurements will be complemented with an unique dataset we have
already in the optical, infrared, mid-infrared, and X-ray.

ACS/WFC 10765

The Discrete X-ray Source Population in NGC~5253, our nearest
post-starburst

We propose a 140ksec ACIS-S and HST-ACS observations of NGC5253, our
nearest post- starburst galaxy. This observation, together with
archival data, will yield a sensitivity limit of 5x10^35 ergs allowing
us to detect for the first time in an evolved star-burst galaxy, the
vast majority of active HMXBs. Our major goal is to compare the
various X-ray source populations {distinguished from their X-ray and
optical properties} and associate them with the evolutionary stage of
the starburst. By combining these data with observations of other
nearby star-forming galaxies which with NGC~5253 form a starburst age
sequence, we will investigate the variations of the XRB populations
{and their XLF} as a function of the starburst age. This way we will
test XRB population synthesis models.

WFPC2 10608

Probing the star formation law in the extreme outer limits of M83, a
prototypical XUV-disk galaxy

The Galaxy Evolution Explorer {GALEX} has discovered a new sub-class
of spiral galaxy, which we refer to as extended UV-disk {XUV-disk}
galaxies. They are distinguished by conspicuous UV-bright star
clusters located at galactocentric radii extending to many times the
optical {R25} extent, and appear to represent a population of spiral
galaxies still actively building, or augmenting, their stellar disk.
However, XUV-disks pose a mystery in the form of a relative lack of
HII regions {traced by H-alpha emission} associated with outer disk,
UV-bright stellar clusters. M83 is an XUV-disk prototype and the focus
of this proposal. It has an H-alpha surface brightness profile
characterized by a steep decline at the radius beyond which the
gaseous disk is thought to become dynamically stable {against collapse
and ensuing star formation}, but GALEX UV profiles show no "edge" at
this location. Our HST study of M83 aims to resolve this puzzling
discrepancy, confirmed in several XUV-disks, by searching for
Lyman-continuum producing O stars that are either absent or present
without nebulosity. HST provides the only means of resolving
individual massive stars in the FUV band at M83's distance. Without
HST, we lose the critical ability to photometrically classify O and B
stars. Our multiwavelength observations will also constrain the
history of star formation in the outer disk over Gyr timescales by
characterizing the evolved stellar population, both using resolved
giants and color analysis of the diffuse background.

WFPC2 10745

WFPC2 CYCLE 14 INTERNAL MONITOR

This calibration proposal is the Cycle 14 routine internal monitor for
WFPC2, to be run weekly to monitor the health of the cameras. A
variety of internal exposures are obtained in order to provide a
monitor of the integrity of the CCD camera electronics in both bays
{both gain 7 and gain 15 -- to test stability of gains and bias
levels}, a test for quantum efficiency in the CCDs, and a monitor for
possible buildup of contaminants on the CCD windows. These also
provide raw data for generating annual super-bias reference files for
the calibration pipeline.

WFPC2 10751

WFPC2 CYCLE 14 Intflat Linearity Check and Filter Rotation Anomaly
Monitor

Intflat observations will be taken to provide a linearity check: the
linearity test consists of a series of intflats in F555W, in each gain
and each shutter. A combination of intflats, visflats, and earthflats
will be used to check the repeatability of filter wheel motions.
{Intflat sequences tied to decons, visits 1-18 in prop 10363, have
been moved to the cycle 14 decon proposal 10744 for easier
scheduling.} Note: long-exposure WFPC2 intflats must be scheduled
during ACS anneals to prevent stray light from the WFPC2 lamps from
contaminating long ACS external exposures.

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 05 05
FGS REacq 10 10
OBAD with Maneuver 30 30

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)