Daily Report #4933

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to Collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT #4933

PERIOD COVERED: 5am September 17 - 5am September 18, 2009 (DOY 260/09:00z-261/09:00z)

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED

COS/NUV 11472

COS NUV Dispersed-Light Acquisition Algorithm Verification

The purpose of this proposal is to verify the ability of the COS FSW
to place an isolated point source at the center of the aperture, both
for the BOA and PSA, using dispersed light from the object using an
NUV grating. The various options for target centering should be
exercised and shown to work properly.

COS/NUV/FUV 11531

COS-GTO: Brown Dwarf Activity

COS will obtain ultraviolet spectra of a representative sample of
brown dwarfs to study such questions as: (1) Is the hot gas in the
outer atmospheres of young brown dwarfs heated by accretion? (2) Is
the molecular hydrogen emission due to Lyman-alpha fluorescence or
collisional excitation? (3) Are the older brown dwarfs without disks
low mass analogs of active M dwarfs with flares and transient heating?
(4) Are young brown dwarfs with disks low mass analogs of classical T
Tauri stars?

COS/NUV/FUV/WFC3/UVIS/IR 11534

COS-GTO: Atmosphere of a Transiting Planet

COS observations of a transiting planet at different orbital locations
will be useful in identifying the chemical content, size, temperature,
and flows in the atmosphere of a transiting planet.

NIC1/NIC2/NIC3 11947

Extended Dark Monitoring

This program takes a series of darks to obtain darks (including
amplifier glow, dark current, and shading profiles) for all three
cameras in the read-out sequences used in Cycle 17. A set of 12 orbits
will be observed every two months for a total of 72 orbits for a 12
month Cycle 17. This is a continuation of Cycle 16 program 11330
scaled down by ~80%.

The first orbit (Visit A0) should be scheduled in the NICMOS SMOV
after the DC Transfer Test (11406) and at least 36h before the Filter
Wheel Test (11407). Data download using fast track.

The following 28 orbits (visit A1-N2) should be scheduled AFTER the
SMOV Proposal 11407 (Filter Wheel Test). This is done in order to
monitor the dark current following an adjustment of the NCS set-point.
These visits should be executed until the final temperature is reached
during SMOV.

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.

WFC3/ACS/IR 11359

Panchromatic WFC3 Survey of Galaxies at Intermediate z: Early Release
Science Program for Wide Field Camera 3.

The unique panchromatic capabilities of WFC3 will be used to survey
the structure and evolution of galaxies at the peak of the galaxy
assembly epoch. Deep ultraviolet and near-IR imaging and slitless
spectroscopy of existing deep multi-color ACS fields will be used to
gauge star-formation and the growth of stellar mass as a function of
morphology, structure and surrounding density in the critical epoch 1
z 4. Images in the F225W, F275W, and F336W filters will identify
galaxies at z 1.5 from their UV continuum breaks, and provide
star-formation indicators tied directly to both local and z 3
populations. Deep near-IR (F125W and F160W) images will probe the
stellar mass function well below 10^9 Msun for mass-complete samples.
Lastly, the WFC3 slitless UV and near-IR grisms will be used to
measure redshifts and star-formation rates from H- alpha and
rest-frame UV continuum slope. This WFC3 ERS program will survey one 4
x 2 mosaic for a total area of 50 square arcminutes to 5-sigma depths
of m_AB = 27 in most filters from the mid-UV through the near-IR.

This multicolor high spatial resolution data set will allow the user
to gauge the growth of galaxies through star-formation and merging.
High precision photometric and low- resolution spectroscopic redshifts
will allow accurate determinations of the faint-end of the luminosity
and mass functions, and will shed light on merging and tidal
disruption of stellar and gaseous disks. The WFC3 images will also
allow detailed studies of the internal structure of galaxies, and the
distribution of young and old stellar populations. This program will
demonstrate the unique power of WFC3 by applying its many diverse
modes and full panchromatic capability to a forefront problem in
astrophysics.

WFC3/IR 11915

IR Internal Flat Fields

This program is the same as 11433 (SMOV) and depends on the completion
of the IR initial alignment (Program 11425). This version contains
three instances of 37 internal orbits: to be scheduled early, middle,
and near the end of Cycle 17, in order to use the entire 110-orbit
allocation.

In this test, we will study the stability and structure of the IR
channel flat field images through all filter elements in the WFC3-IR
channel. Flats will be monitored, i.e. to capture any temporal trends
in the flat fields and delta flats produced. High signal observations
will provide a map of the pixel-to-pixel flat field structure, as well
as identify the positions of any dust particles.

WFC3/UVIS 11650

Mutual Orbits, Colors, Masses, and Bulk Densities of 3 Cold Classical
Trans-Neptunian Binaries

Many Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) have been found to be binary or
multiple systems. As in other astrophysical settings, Trans-Neptunian
Binaries (TNBs) offer uniquely valuable information. Their mutual
orbits allow the direct determination of their system masses, perhaps
the most fundamental physical quantity of any astronomical object.
Their frequency of occurrence and dynamical characteristics provide
clues to formation conditions and evolution scenarios affecting both
the binaries and their single neighbors. Combining masses with sizes,
bulk densities can be measured. Densities constrain bulk composition
and internal structure, key clues to TNO origins and evolution over
time. Several TNB bulk densities have been determined, hinting at
interesting trends. But none of them belongs to the Cold Classical
sub- population, the one group of TNOs with demonstrably distinct
physical characteristics. Two top-priority Spitzer programs will soon
observe and measure the sizes of 3 Cold Classical TNBs. This proposal
seeks to determine the mutual orbits and thus masses of these systems,
enabling computation of their densities.

WFC3/UVIS 11657

The Population of Compact Planetary Nebulae in the Galactic Disk

We propose to secure narrow- and broad-band images of compact
planetary nebulae (PNe) in the Galactic Disk to study the missing link
of the early phases of post-AGB evolution. Ejected AGB envelopes
become PNe when the gas is ionized. PNe expand, and, when large
enough, can be studied in detail from the ground. In the interim, only
the HST capabilities can resolve their size, morphology, and central
stars. Our proposed observations will be the basis for a systematic
study of the onset of morphology. Dust properties of the proposed
targets will be available through approved Spitzer/IRS spectra, and so
will the abundances of the alpha-elements. We will be able thus to
explore the interconnection of morphology, dust grains, stellar
evolution, and populations. The target selection is suitable to
explore the nebular and stellar properties across the Galactic Disk,
and to set constraints on the galactic evolutionary models through the
analysis of metallicity and population gradients.

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).

WFC3/UVIS 11912

UVIS Internal Flats

This proposal will be used to assess the stability of the flat field
structure for the UVIS detector throughout the 15 months of Cycle 17.
The data will be used to generate on- orbit updates for the delta-flat
field reference files used in the WFC3 calibration pipeline, if
significant changes in the flat structure are seen.

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:

18704-1 - NICMOS FW Flag Enable @ 260/2032z

COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None)

SCHEDULED SUCCESSFUL
FGS GSAcq 4 4
FGS REAcq 9 9
OBAD with Maneuver 5 5

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)