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Daily Report #5178



 
 
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Old September 10th 10, 06:08 PM posted to sci.astro.hubble
Cooper, Joe
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Default Daily Report #5178

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to Collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT #5178

PERIOD COVERED: 5am September 9 - 5am September 10, 2010 (DOY 252/09:00z-253/09:00z)

FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:

Significant Spacecraft Anomalies: (The following are preliminary
reports of potential non-nominal performance that will be
investigated.)

HSTARS:
12390 - SIC&DH Safed (CU/SDF lockup) @ 252 /22:39:21z
12392 - WFC3 Suspends at 253/04:24:35
12393 - SIC&DH-2 Bus B Current Monitor Failure @ 253/03:38:50z

COMPLETED OPS REQUEST:
18901-1 - CU/SDF Lock-up Recovery, Part B @ 253/04:19:40z
18903-0 - CU/SDF Lock-up Recovery, Part A @ 253/00:20:30z
18904-1 - Power off COS FUV @ 253/07:54:54z
18905-0 - Modify NSSC-1 ED Limit for M2BUSCUB @ 253/08:01:49z

COMPLETED OPS NOTES: None

SCHEDULED SUCCESSFUL
FGS GSAcq 6 6
FGS REAcq 9 9
OBAD with Maneuver 5 5

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS:

HST experienced an SIC&DH CU/SDF lock-up at 252/22:39z. After
verification of the signature the CU/SDF recovery began.


OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED:

ACS/WFC 12292

SWELLS: Doubling the Number of Disk-dominated Edge-on Spiral Lens
Galaxies

The formation of realistic disk galaxies within the LCDM cosmology is
still largely an unsolved problem. Theory is now beginning to make
predictions for how dark matter halos respond to galaxy formation, and
for the properties of disk galaxies. Measuring the density profiles of
dark matter halos on galaxy scales is therefore a strong test for the
standard paradigm of galaxy formation, offering great potential for
discovery. However, the degeneracy between the stellar and dark matter
contributions to galaxy rotation curves remains a major obstacle.
Strong gravitational lensing, when combined with spatially resolved
kinematics and stellar population models, can solve this long-standing
problem. Unfortunately, this joint methodology could not be exploited
until recently due to the paucity of known edge-on spiral lenses. We
have developed and demonstrated an efficient technique to find exactly
these systems. During supplemental cycle-16 we discovered five new
spiral lens galaxies, suitable for rotation curve measurements. We
propose multi-color HST imaging of 16 candidates and 2
partially-imaged confirmed systems, to measure a sample of eight new
edge-on spiral lenses. This program will at least double the number of
known disk-dominated systems. This is crucial for constraining the
relative contribution of the disk, bulge and dark halo to the total
density profile.

STIS/CCD/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 11845

CCD Dark Monitor Part 2

Monitor the darks for the STIS CCD.

STIS/CCD 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/CCD/MA 12179

The Stellar Winds of Evolved, Braked O-Type Magnetic Oblique Rotators

Magnetic fields have recently been discovered on several massive
stars, but their origin and influence on the evolution of these stars
are poorly understood. Two of these objects, HD 191612 and HD 108, are
of particular interest. Very recent spectropolarimetric observations
have shown that they are most likely magnetic oblique rotators, like
the young O star Theta1 Ori C, whose 15d periodically variable field
was found somewhat earlier. However, the two new objects are much
slower rotators, unusually so for O stars, with periods of 538d and
50-60yrs, respectively, and there are other indications that they are
older. They provide an opportunity to study the efficiency of wind
braking of magnetic O stars through angular momentum loss. We shall
perform STIS high-resolution UV spectroscopy of HD 191612 and HD 108
(phase resolved for the former) to derive more complete estimates of
fundamental quantities than available from optical data alone. We
shall measure the mass-loss rates from the UV wind profiles, which
will constrain the extreme wind confinement of these stars and
establish whether the large H-alpha emission variations are
wind-related or geometrical. We shall also derive more accurate ages
and stellar surface properties. In turn, these results will support a
more definitive discussion of the angular momentum evolution versus
the ages of HD 191612 and HD 108, and of the comparison with the
younger and faster Theta1 Ori C.



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).


S/C 11639

Catching Accreting WDs Moving into Their Instability Strip(s)

Our past HST studies of the temperatures of 9 accreting, pulsating
white dwarfs in cataclysmic variables show that 3 are in the normal
instability strip for single white dwarfs, but the other 6 are much
hotter (15, 000-16, 500K). This dual strip has been proposed to be due
to mass differences in the white dwarfs related to evolutionary
history and driven by the ionization of different elements in their
respective driving regions. In 2007, GW Lib (the brightest and best
studied of the 6 hot accreting pulsators) and V455 And (the brightest
and best studied of the 3 cool accreting pulsators) underwent rare
large amplitude dwarf nova outbursts (known to heat the white dwarf)
and their pulsations disappeared. We propose COS observations to: a)
take advantage of the unprecedented opportunity to view the change in
pulsation modes due to cooling of the white dwarf envelope and b)
determine the masses of the white dwarfs to test the dual strip
theory. In addition, a nova that had its outburst 22 yrs ago has begun
non-radial pulsations as it returns to quiescence. We will use COS to
determine its temperature in relation to the instability strip for the
pulsating white dwarfs in dwarf novae.


WFC3/UVIS 11675

Stellar Forensics: A Post-Explosion View of the Progenitors of
Core-Collapse Supernovae

Recent studies have used high spatial resolution HST observations of
SN sites to identify the progenitors of core-collapse SNe on
pre-explosion images. These studies have set constraints about the
nature of massive stars and their evolution just prior to their
explosion as SNe. Now, at late-times when the SNe have faded
sufficiently, it is possible to return to the sites of these
core-collapse SNe to search for clues about the nature of their
progenitors. We request time to conduct deep, late-time,
high-resolution imaging with ACS/HRC of the sites of six core-collapse
SNe. In this program we aim to: 1) confirm our identifications, that
were made with HST pre-explosion images, of the red supergiant
progenitors of four Type IIP SNe (1999ev, 2003gd, 2004A and 2005cs),
by observing if the objects identified as the progenitors are now
missing; 2) place precise constraints on the progenitor of the Type Ic
SN 2007gr by studying its host cluster; and 3) confirm our
identification of an LBV-like outburst of an unstable WR star as
belonging to the progenitor of a Type Ib-n core-collapse SN (2006jc),
using broad and narrow-band imaging to search for emission line stars
in its locality. The deep imaging will also allow to probe the stellar
populations in the immediate vicinities of these SNe, that were
previously obscured by the progenitors and the bright SNe. HST
provides the unique combination of high-resolution optical imaging at
very faint magnitudes that will facilitate this study.

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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