Daily Report #4678

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT****** #4678

PERIOD COVERED: 5am August 19 - 5am August 20, 2008 (DOY
232/0900z-233/0900z)

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED

NIC1 11205

The Effects of Multiplicity on the Evolution of Young Stellar Objects:
A NICMOS Imaging Study

We propose to use NICMOS to investigate the multiplicity of young
stellar objects (YSOs) in the Orion B molecular cloud. Previous
observations with the Spitzer Space Telescope have revealed a
remarkable star forming filament near the NGC 2068 reflection nebula.
The population of YSOs associated with the filament exhibit a
surprisingly wide range of circumstellar evolutionary states, from
deeply embedded protostars to T Tauri accretion disks. Many of the
circumstellar disks themselves show evidence for significant dust
evolution, including grain growth and settling and cleared inner
holes, apparently in spite of the very young age of these stars. We
will estimate the binary fraction of a representative sample of
objects in these various stages of evolution in order to test whether
companions may play a significant role in that evolution.

NIC1/NIC2/NIC3 11330

NICMOS Cycle 16 Extended Dark

This takes a series of Darks in parallel to other instruments.

NIC1/NIC2/NIC3 8795

NICMOS Post-SAA Calibration - CR Persistence Part 6

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 11548

NICMOS Imaging of Protostars in the Orion A Cloud: The Role of
Environment in Star Formation

We propose NICMOS observations of a sample of 252 protostars
identified in the Orion A cloud with the Spitzer Space Telescope.
These observations will image the scattered light escaping the
protostellar envelopes, providing information on the shapes of outflow
cavities, the inclinations of the protostars, and the overall
morphologies of the envelopes. In addition, we ask for Spitzer time to
obtain 55-95 micron spectra of 75 of the protostars. Combining these
new data with existing 3.6 to 70 micron photometry and forthcoming
5-40 micron spectra measured with the Spitzer Space Telescope, we will
determine the physical properties of the protostars such as envelope
density, luminosity, infall rate, and outflow cavity opening angle. By
examining how these properties vary with stellar density (i.e.
clusters vs groups vs isolation) and the properties of the surrounding
molecular cloud; we can directly measure how the surrounding
environment influences protostellar evolution, and consequently, the
formation of stars and planetary systems. Ultimately, this data will
guide the development of a theory of protostellar evolution.

WFPC2 11130

AGNs with Intermediate-mass Black Holes: Testing the Black Hole-Bulge
Paradigm, Part II

The recent progress in the study of central black holes in galactic
nuclei has led to a general consensus that supermassive {10^6-10^9
solar mass} black holes are closely connected with the formation and
evolutionary history of large galaxies, especially their bulge
component. Two outstanding issues, however, remain unresolved. Can
central black holes form in the absence of a bulge? And does the mass
function of central black holes extend below 10^6 solar masses?
Intermediate-mass black holes {10^6 solar masses}, if they exist, may
offer important clues to the nature of the seeds of supermassive black
holes. Using the SDSS, our group has successfully uncovered a new
population of AGNs with intermediate-mass black holes that reside in
low-luminosity galaxies. However, very little is known about the
detailed morphologies or structural parameters of the host galaxies
themselves, including the crucial question of whether they have bulges
or not. Surprisingly, the majority of the targets of our Cycle 14
pilot program have structural properties similar to dwarf elliptical
galaxies. The statistics from this initial study, however, are really
too sparse to reach definitive conclusions on this important new class
of black holes. We wish to extend this study to a larger sample, by
using the Snapshot mode to obtain WFPC2 F814W images from a parent
sample of 175 AGNs with intermediate- mass black holes selected from
our final SDSS search. We are particularly keen to determine whether
the hosts contain bulges, and if so, how the fundamental plane
properties of the host depend on the mass of their central black
holes. We will also investigate the environment of this unique class
of AGNs.

WFPC2 11221

A Dark Core in Abell 520

We have recently disocovered that the rich cluster Abell 520 exhibits
truly extreme multi-wavelength characteristics. The data indicate that
the cluster is the site of a major merger. Our weak lensing analysis,
based on a deep CFHT image, suggests the presence of a massive dark
core that coincides with the central X-ray emission peak, while being
largely devoid of galaxies. Although a displacement between the X-ray
gas and the galaxy/dark matter distribution may be expected in a
merger (e.g. as in the bullet cluster), the dark matter peak without
galaxies cannot be easily explained within the current collisionless
dark matter paradigm. A higher resolution mass map is required to make
further progress, as it will enable us to examine the detailed
structure of the dark matter distribution, as well as improve the
significance of the dark peak. We propose a 3 x 3 WFPC2 mosaic of
interlaced images, where each pointing consists of two sets of F814W
exposures offset by 5.5 pixels. This will precisely pinpoint the
locations of the highest lensing peaks, enhance the comparison with
the Chandra X-ray data, and test physical and geometrical models for
the spatial and thermal structure of this remarkable cluster derived
from our suite of gas+dark matter simulations of head-on/off-axis
cluster mergers.

FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:

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

HSTARS:

11449 - GSacq(2,1,1) failed to RGA control

At 232/23:58:32 the GSacq(2,1,1) scheduled at 232/23:55:35 failed to
RGA control due to scan step limit exceeded on FGS 2.

Observations affected: NIC 86 - 107 Proposal ID 11512

COMPLETED OPS REQUEST: (None)

COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None)

*********************** SCHEDULED***** SUCCESSFUL

FGS GSacq************** 08***************** 07
FGS REacq************** 07***************** 07
OBAD with Maneuver **** 30***************** 30

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)