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Daily # 4129
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to collect World Class Science
DAILY REPORT # 4129 PERIOD COVERED: UT June 06, 2006 (DOY 157) OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED ACS/HRC 10335 Black Holes in Globular Clusters Search for 3000 solar mass black holes at the centers of three Galactic globular clusters using stellar proper motions. ACS/HRC 10606 Ultraviolet Snapshots of 3CR Radio Galaxies Radio galaxies are an important class of extragalactic objects: they are one of the most energetic astrophysical phenomena and they provide an exceptional probe of the evolving Universe, lying typically in high density regions but well-represented across a wide redshift range. In earlier Cycles we carried out extensive HST observations of the 3CR sources in order to acquire a complete and quantitative inventory of the structure, contents and evolution of these important objects. Amongst the results, we discovered new optical jets, dust lanes, face-on disks with optical jets, and revealed point-like nuclei whose properties support FR-I/BL Lac unified schemes. Here, we propose to obtain ACS NUV images of 3CR sources with z0.3 as a major enhancement to an already superb dataset. We aim to reveal dust in galaxies, regions of star and star cluster formation frequently associated with dust and establish the physical characteristics of the dust itself. We will measure frequency and spectral energy distributions of point-like nuclei, seek spectral turnovers in known synchrotron jets and find new jets. We will strongly test unified AGN schemes and merge these data with existing X-ray to radio observations for significant numbers of both FR-I and FR-II sources. The resulting database will be an incredibly valuable resource to the astronomical community for years to come. ACS/WFC 10551 Gamma-Ray Bursts from Start to Finish: A Legacy Approach The progenitors of long-duration GRBs are now known to be massive stars. This result lends credence to the collapsar model, where a rotating massive star ends its life leaving a black hole or a highly magnetized neutron star, and confirms its essential aspects. The focus of attention now is on the black hole or magnetar engines that power the bursts. Somehow these engines create the most highly relativistic and highly collimated outflows that we know of, through mechanisms that no current theory can explain. These astrophysical laboratories challenge our understanding of relativistic shocks, of mechanisms for extracting energy from a black hole, and of how physics works in extreme conditions. The launch of Swift is bringing us into a new era, where we can make broadband observations that will enable us to study these fascinating physical processes. We propose here an ambitious, comprehensive program to obtain the datasets that will become the standard that any successful model for the central engine must explain. This programs leverages the HST observations to the maximum extent by our commitment of Swift observations, a Large program at the VLA, and extensive ground-based optical resources. By studying the engines and searching for jets in a variety of events, this program will investigate the conditions necessary for the engine and jet formation itself. ACS/WFC 10573 Globular Clusters in the Direction of the Inner Galaxy The age, chemical and kinematic distributions of stellar populations provide powerful constraints on models of the formation and evolution of the Milky Way. The globular clusters constitute an especially useful case because the stars within individual clusters are coeval and spatially distinct. But a serious limitation in the study of many globular clusters -- especially those located near the Galactic Center -- has been the existence of large absolute and differential extinction by foreground dust. We propose to use the ACS to map the differential extinction and remove their effects in a large sample of globular clusters located in the direction of the inner Galaxy using a technique refined recently by von Braun and Mateo {2001}. These observations and their analyses will let us produce high quality color-magnitude diagrams of these poorly studied clusters that will allow us to determine these clusters' relative ages, distances and chemistry and to address important questions about the formation and the evolution of the inner Galaxy. Our aim for these ACS observations is to obtain data for the most crowded clusters in the inner Galaxy where the excellent spatial resolution of the ACS is most necessary. ACS/WFC 10588 The Host Galaxies of Post-Starburst Quasars We propose to use ACS to conduct a snapshot imaging survey of post-starburst quasars now being discovered in signficant numbers by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Post-starburst quasars are broad-lined AGN that also possess Balmer jumps and high-n Balmer absorption lines indicative of luminous stellar populations on order of 100 Myr old. These objects, representing a few percent of the z 0.5 quasar population, may be an evolutionary stage in the transition of ultraluminous infrared galaxies into normal quasars, or a type of galaxy interaction that triggers both star formation and nuclear activity. These sources may also illustrate how black hole mass/bulge mass correlations arise. Ground-based imaging of individual poststarburst quasars has revealed merger remnants, binary systems, and single point sources. Our ACS snapshots will enable us to determine morphologies and binary structure on sub-arcsecond scales {surely present in the sample}, as well as basic host galaxy properties. We will be looking for relationships among morphology, particularly separation of double nuclei, the starburst age, the quasar black hole mass and accretion rate, that will lead to an understanding of the triggering activity and mutual evolution. This project will bring quantitative data and statistics to the previously fuzzy and anecdotal topic of the "AGN-starburst connection" and help test the idea that post-starburst quasars are an early evolutionary stage of normal quasars. ACS/WFC 10635 Galaxy Transformation as probed by Morphology and Velocity Fields of Distant Cluster Galaxies We seek to obtain ACS imaging of four distant {0.3z0.6} clusters of galaxies within a 6'x6' field covered by a 2x2 mosaic to determine morphological and structural parameters of late-type galaxies. We specifically concentrate on peculiarities indicative of past or ongoing interaction processes. The ~90 target galaxies have been {Period74} or will be {P75} observed with 3D- spectroscopy at ESO-VLT yielding 2D-velocity fields with unprecedented spatial coverage and sampling. The good spatial resolution of the ground-based data will be further enhanced by a deconvolution method based on the proposed ACS images. The velocity field and the morphology in restframe-UV light will reveal possible transformation mechanisms affecting not only the stellar populations but also the mass distribution of the galaxies. Additionally, it will be possible to pin down the nature of the interaction {e.g. tidally or ram-pressure induced}. This assessment gets supported by our N-body/SPH simulations {including star formation} of different interaction processes that allow the direct comparison of structural and kinematical characteristics at each time step with the observations on an individual basis taking into account all observational constraints for a given galaxy. All together, we will be able to explore the relative efficiency of the various proposed transformation phenomena. In the case of non-disturbed spirals, a rotation curve can be extracted from the full 2D velocity field with unprecedented quality, from which the maximum rotation speed can be derived with high confidence. In combination with accurate size and luminosity determinations from the ACS images, we will be able to establish the Tully-Fisher and Fundamental Plane relations of cluster spiral members at cosmological epochs. At these distances cluster assembly is predicted to peak and we can probe the galaxies' luminosity, size and mass evolution with robust methods. Together with our already existing sample of ~200 distant {z=1} spiral galaxies in the field, we will put strong constraints on current theories of galaxy formation and evolution in different environments. ACS/WFC/HRC 10536 What Are Stalled Preplanetary Nebulae? An ACS SNAPshot Survey Essentially all planetary nebulae {PNs} are aspherical, whereas the mass-loss envelopes of AGB stars are strikingly spherical. Our previous SNAPshot surveys of a morphologically unbiased sample of pre-planetary nebulae {PPNs} -- objects in transition between the AGB and PN evolutionary phases -- show that roughly half our observed targets are resolved, with bipolar or multipolar morphologies. Spectroscopic observations of our sample confirm that these objects have not yet evolved into planetary nebulae. Thus, the transformation from spherical to aspherical geometries has already fully developed by the time these dying stars have become PPNs. Although our current studies have yielded exciting results, they are limited in two important ways -- {1} the number of well-resolved objects is still small {18}, and the variety of morphologies observed relatively multitudinous, hence no clear trends can yet be established between morphology and other source properties {e.g., near-IR, far-IR colors, stellar spectral type, envelope mass}, and {2} the current samples are strongly biased towards small PPNs, as inferred from their low 60-to-25 micron flux ratios [R{60/25}1]. However, the prototype of objects with R{60/25}1, the Frosty Leo Nebula, has a puzzlingly large post-AGB age {almost 10^4 yr} and a fairly cool central star, very different from the expectations of single-star stellar evolutionary models. A proposed, but still speculative, hypothesis for such objects is that the slow evolution of the central star is due to backflow of material onto the mass-losing star, retarding its evolution towards the PN phase. This hypothesis has significant consequences for both stellar and nebular evolution. We therefore propose a survey of PPNs with R{60/25}1 which is heavily weighted towards the discovery of such "stalled PPNs". Supporting kinematic observations using long-slit optical spectroscopy {with the Keck}, millimeter and radio interferometric observations {with OVRO, VLA & VLBA} are being undertaken. The results from this survey {together with our previous work} will allow us to draw general conclusions about the complex mass-outflow processes affecting late stellar evolution, and will provide crucial input for theories of post-AGB stellar evolution. Our survey will produce an archival legacy of long-standing value for future studies of dying 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. 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. FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY: Significant Spacecraft Anomalies: (The following are preliminary reports of potential non-nominal performance that will be investigated.) HSTARS: 10299 - GSAcq(1,2,1) requires two attempts to achieve CT-DV @ 152/18:56:03z OTA SE review of PTAS processing data revealed that GSAcq(1,2,1) scheduled for 2006/152 18:56:03 required two entries into CT to acheive CT-DV. COMPLETED OPS REQUEST: 17778-1 - MA/GN Mode Recorder Dump Test @ 157/1759z COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None) SCHEDULED SUCCESSFUL FGS GSacq 08 08 FGS REacq 07 07 OBAD with Maneuver 30 30 SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: FLASH REPORT MA/GN Mode recorder Dump Test - Ops Request 17778-1 was executed on DOY 2006/157 between 16:59:54 and 17:11:28, to test the process of dumping Science data via the MAT, through TDRSS and to the ground. The test performance was successful. Previously recorded SSR1 Science data was re-transmitted between 17:03:47 - 17:09:03. PACOR processed and analyzed the data and it was nominal. Engineering data recorded on the ESTR during the test was successfully dumped approximately 157/17:56:29. Future MA/GN tests will be used for training and proficiency purposes to exercise the process of transmitting science data via the MAT. |
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