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Daily # 4130
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to collect World Class Science
DAILY REPORT # 4130 PERIOD COVERED: UT June 07, 2006 (DOY 158) OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED ACS/HRC/WFC 10514 Kuiper Belt Binaries: Probes of Early Solar System Evolution Binaries in the Kuiper Belt are a scientific windfall: in them we have relatively fragile test particles which can be used as tracers of the early dynamical evolution of the outer Solar System. We propose a Snapshot program using the ACS/HRC that has a potential discovery efficiency an order of magnitude higher than the HST observations that have already discovered the majority of known transneptunian binaries. By more than doubling the number of observed objects in dynamically hot and cold subpopulations we will be able to answer, with statistical significance, the question of whether these groups differ in the abundance of binaries as a result of their particular dynamical paths into the Kuiper Belt. Today's Kuiper Belt bears the imprints of the final stages of giant-planet building and migration; binaries may offer some of the best preserved evidence of that long-ago era. ACS/HRC/WFC 10758 ACS CCDs daily monitor 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 programme will be for the entire lifetime of ACS. Changes from cycle 13:- The default gain for WFC is 2 e-/DN. As before bias frames will be collected for both gain 1 and gain 2. Dark frames are acquired using the default gain {2}. This program cover the period May, 31 2006- Oct, 1-2006. The first half of the program has a different proposal number: 10729. ACS/SBC 10764 X-Ray Activity and Winds in Young A Stars at the Epoch of Disk Clearing Herbig Ae stars which are still accreting material from their protoplanetary disks show a gradual evolution in X-ray luminosity and hardness ratio. They resemble T Tauri stars in driving microjets which can be imagaged in Lyman alpha. Older A stars with more centrally cleared debris disks, like beta Pictoris, are not X-ray sources, but still have some stellar activity and can drive coronal winds. We wish to test the hypothesis that the change in the level of stellar activity and hardness of stellar activity signatues are linked to changes in the magnetic field strength and wind geometry. We are requesting 20 ksec of Chandra and 2 orbits of HST time to observe two late-A Herbig Ae stars which appear to be transitional between the accreting objects and the debris disks. 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 10592 An ACS Survey of a Complete Sample of Luminous Infrared Galaxies in the Local Universe At luminosities above 10^11.4 L_sun, the space density of far-infrared selected galaxies exceeds that of optically selected galaxies. These `luminous infrared galaxies' {LIRGs} are primarily interacting or merging disk galaxies undergoing enhanced star formation and Active Galactic Nuclei {AGN} activity, possibly triggered as the objects transform into massive S0 and elliptical merger remnants. We propose ACS/WFC imaging of a complete sample of 88 L_IR 10^11.4 L_sun luminous infrared galaxies in the IRAS Revised Bright Galaxy Sample {RBGS: i.e., 60 micron flux density 5.24 Jy}. This sample is ideal not only in its completeness and sample size, but also in the proximity and brightness of the galaxies. The superb sensitivity, resolution, and field of view of ACS/WFC on HST enables a unique opportunity to study the detailed structure of galaxies that sample all stages of the merger process. Imaging will be done with the F439W and F814W filters {B and I-band} to examine as a function of both luminosity and merger state {i} the evidence at optical wavelengths of star formation and AGN activity and the manner in which instabilities {bars and bridges} in the galaxies may funnel material to these active regions, {ii} the relationship between star formation and AGN activity, and {iii} the structural properties {AGN, bulge, and disk components} and fundamental parameters {effective radius and surface brightness} of LIRGs and their similarity with putative evolutionary byproducts {elliptical, S0 and classical AGN host galaxies}. This HST survey will also bridge the wavelength gap between a Spitzer imaging survey {covering seven bands in the 3.6-160 micron range} and a GALEX UV imaging survey of these galaxies, but will resolve complexes of star clusters and multiple nuclei at resolutions well beyond the capabilities of either Spitzer or GALEX. The combined datasets will result in the most comprehensive multiwavelength study of interacting and merging galaxies to date. 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. 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/ACS/WFC/WFPC2 10532 Kinematics and morphology of the most massive field disk galaxies at z1 We propose to obtain 1 orbit NIC-2 images of a sample of the 15 most massive galaxies found at $1 z 1.3$. These were culled from over 20, 000 Keck spectra collected as part of DEEP and are unique among high redshift massive galaxy samples in being kinematically selected. We intend to test whether these potentially very young galaxies are likely precursors to massive local disks, assuming no further merging. NIC-2 images provide rest-frame optical morphologies that will show whether they are normal disky systems or instead more disturbed looking objects with multiple subcomponents, mergers, peculiar structure, etc. NIC-2 provides near-IR resolutions sufficient to enable measurements of bulges and disks subcomponents. The near-IR will fill a critical gap in the broad-band SED photometry of the galaxy and its subcomponents to estimate mean stellar ages and stellar masses and to assess whether old stellar bulges and disks are in place at that time. Finally, this sample will yield the first statistically significant results on the $z 1$ evolution of the Tully-Fisher relation for massive galaxies. In addition, we propose parallel observations with ACS WFC {V and I bands} and WFPC2 {I-band}. These will target up to 700 galaxies at redshifts 0.7 ... 1.2 for which the DEEP2 survey has obtained precision redshifts and high-resolution kinematic data. The added HST morphology and color information will allow a variety of detailed studies on dynamical, structural, and photometric evolution of galaxies. NIC3 10538 Near-IR Spectrophotometry of 2MASSWJ 1207334-393254B - An Extra-Solar Planetary Mass Companion We propose to obtain "short" wavelength near-IR diagnostic and characterizing spectra of the very high probability candidate extra-solar giant planet {EGP} companion to 2MASSWJ 1207334- 393254 {2M1207}, a young brown dwarf and TW Hydrae Association member. Recent NICMOS camera 1 multi-band photometric imaging of the companion candidate, 0.77" {54 AU projected} from 2M1207 - initially detected at longer wavelengths with VLT/NACO - implicate an object of several Jupiter masses based on cooling models of EGPs and the likely age of 2M1207 {~ 8 Myr}. Physical companionship of the EGP candidate with 2M1207 has been established at the 99.1% level of confidence via second-epoch NICMOS astrometric observations. Diagnostic spectra in the 0.8 to 1.9 micron region {unobtainable from the ground and overlapping the NICMOS imaging observations} will {a} critically inform on the physical nature of the EGP, {b} provide currently non-existing information to test/constrain theoretical models of EGP properties and evolution, and {c} unequivocally confirm the imaging of a bone fide EGP. Background light from 2M1207 would normally swamp the EGP spectrum with direct spectral imaging. To obviate this, we propose PSF-subtracted grism spectra of the EGP using 2M1207 as its own spectral template via two- orientation high-contrast image subtraction. The temporal stability of the HST+NICMOS PSF enables self-subtractions of targets at different field orientations resulting in contrast enhancements of 5 to 6 stellar magnitudes in the circumstellar background at ~ 0.8" at these wavelengths. With the grism field oriented to place the EGP "above" and "below" 2M1207 {at two observational epochs} two independent spectra of the EGP will emerge from a difference image. This prototypical spectrum will serve to test and improve upon current models of young EGPs which predict flux suppression by molecular absorption in their atmospheres. WFPC2 10749 Earth Flats This proposal monitors flatfield stability. This proposal obtains sequences of Earth streak flats to construct high quality flat fields for the WFPC2 filter set. These flat fields will allow mapping of the OTA illumination pattern and will be used in conjuction with previous internal and external flats to generate new pipeline superflats. These Earth flats will complement the Earth flat data obtained during cycles 4-13. 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: 17781-0 - Dump Table 213 @ 159/0437z COMPLETED OPS NOTES: 1386-2 - User Class for Quick Updated Proc's (CCS-H) @ 158/1735z 1409-0 - Mnemonic Display Utility Work Around (CCS-H) @ 158/1735z 1486-1 - Restore values following BCTs @ 158/1923z 1487-0 - OTA Thermal Yellow Limit Update @ 158/2210z SCHEDULED SUCCESSFUL FGS GSacq 07 07 FGS REacq 09 09 OBAD with Maneuver 28 28 SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None) |
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