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DAILY REPORT #3903
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to collect World Class Science
DAILY REPORT #3903 PERIOD COVERED: UT July 15-17, 2005 (DOY 196-198) OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED 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. ACS/WFC 10624 Solving the Mystery of the Short-Hard Gamma-Ray Bursts Eight years after the afterglow detections that revolutionized studies of the long-soft gamma-ray bursts, not even one afterglow of a short-hard GRB has been seen, and the nature of these events has become one of the most important problems in GRB research. The Swift satellite, expected to be in full operation throughout Cycle 14, will report few-arcsecond localizations for short-hard bursts in minutes, enabling prompt, deep optical afterglow searches for the first time. Discovery and observation of the first short-hard optical afterglows will answer most of the critical questions about these events: What are their distances and energies? Do they occur in distant galaxies, and if so, in which regions of those galaxies? Are they the result of collimated or quasi- spherical explosions? In combination with an extensive rapid-response ground-based campaign, we propose to make the critical high-sensitivity HST TOO observations that will allow us to answer these questions. If theorists are correct in attributing the short- hard bursts to binary neutron star coalescence events, then they will serve as signposts to the primary targeted source population for ground-based gravitational-wave detectors, and short-hard burst studies will have a vital role to play in guiding those observations. 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 and impossible to do without HST}, 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/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. ACS/WFC 10496 Decelerating and Dustfree: Efficient Dark Energy Studies with Supernovae and Clusters We propose a novel HST approach to obtain a dramatically more useful "dust free" Type Ia supernovae {SNe Ia} dataset than available with the previous GOODS searches. Moreover, this approach provides a strikingly more efficient search-and-follow-up that is primarily pre-scheduled. The resulting dark energy measurements do not share the major systematic uncertainty at these redshifts, that of the extinction correction with a prior. By targeting massive galaxy clusters at z 1 we obtain a five-times higher efficiency in detection of Type Ia supernovae in ellipticals, providing a well-understood host galaxy environment. These same deep cluster images then also yield fundamental calibrations required for future weak lensing and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich measurements of dark energy, as well as an entire program of cluster studies. The data will make possible a factor of two improvement on supernova constraints on dark energy time variation, and much larger improvement in systematic uncertainty. They will provide both a cluster dataset and a SN Ia dataset that will be a longstanding scientific resource. ACS/HRC/SBC 10456 The Gas Environment of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 During the Deep Impact Encounter This program consists of a series of observations of periodic comet 9P/Tempel 1 in conjunction with NASA's Deep Impact mission. This mission is a spacecraft that will release a 360 kg impactor into the nucleus of the comet on July 4, 2005. Our primary objective is to study the generation and evolution of the gaseous coma resulting from this impact. A secondary objective was to obtain wide-band images of the visual outburst resulting from the impact. The spectroscopic data can be obtained using two of the prism modes of the ACS's HRC/PR200L and SBC/PR130L. ACS/HRC/WFC 10425 ACS Coronagraphic Imaging of Herbig Ae/Be Stars We can indirectly learn about the planet formation process by studying proto-planetary dust disks. In this proposed observational program, we focus on Herbig Ae/Be stars which are pre-main sequence intermediate mass stars {2-10 solar masses} thought to be immediate precursors to the Vega-excess stars like Beta Pictoris. We propose to take ACS coronagraphic images in the F606W filter of 6 Herbig Ae/Be stars, all of which have well constrained spectral energy distributions and are nearby {200pc}, suggesting possible disk sizes of 3" or larger in radius. We use the recent ACS coronagraph image of Herbig Ae/Be star, HD 141569, which shows a spectacular circumstellar disk, as a template for observing strategy and exposure time estimates. Our observing program involves contemporaneous comparison stars that will be used to subtract the point spread function. These images will constrain the size and possibly, the morphology of the circumstellar dust that may have disk, envelope or disk+envelope geometries. We will analyze these images quantitatively using 2-Dust, an axisymmetric radiative transfer dust code, to derive basic physical parameters of the dusty circumstellar matter such as mass, size, geometry, inclination angle and grain properties. NIC2 10418 Morphologies and Color Gradients of Galaxies with the Oldest Stellar Populations at High Redshifts We have isolated a sample of 9 luminous {~2L*} galaxies with the very oldest stellar populations at their respective redshifts. The galaxies have been found in radio-source fields chosen to be at the key redshifts z~1.5 and z~2.5, which allow the cleanest separation of old stellar populations from highly reddened starbursts with colors derived from standard filter combinations. Ground-based observations in excellent seeing and with adaptive optics of 3 of these galaxies indicate that all 3 are dominated by well relaxed disks of old stars, suggesting that the first large stellar systems to form in the universe were disks in which star formation proceeded extremely rapidly and efficiently. In order to test this conjecture, we are requesting NICMOS2 exposures of our sample to obtain high S/N imaging in the F160W filter to determine detailed morphologies of the old stellar population, coupled with either NICMOS2 F110W or ACS F814W exposures {depending on redshift} to determine color gradients and/or other systematic color variations that might provide clues to formation processes. ACS/WFC 10417 Host Galaxies and Environments of the Most Massive Black Holes in the Early Universe The existence of luminous quasars with billion solar mass black holes at high redshift poses important questions about the relation between the formation and evolution of the earliest galaxies and quasars in the universe: how could these high-redshift black holes accrete matter so quickly and so efficiently? Is the quasar phase connected to the formation of galactic bulge in the earliest epoch? Was the black hole-bulge mass relation observed locally already established at high-redshift? We will use ACS/WFC to obtain rest-frame UV imaging of five quasars at z~4 with the highest estimated black hole mass, of the order 10 billion solar masses. The goal of the HST observation is to directly detect their host galaxies and to probe their galactic environment. These quasars are likely among the most massive and luminous host galaxies at high-redshift, providing ideal targets for direct detection. The rest-frame UV properties measured with HST will be combined with rest-frame optical, mid to far-IR oberservations of these quasars to measure the star-formation rate, to estimate the stellar age and mass of the host galaxy, and to probe the quasar/starburst connection, quasar triggering mechanism and relation between black hole and bulge formation at the highest possible redshift. One of the targets, PSS 2322+1944 {z=4.17}, is a gravitational lensed quasar with a nearly complete Einstein ring in CO emission, providing a unique opportunity to study the small scale structure of a high-redshift quasar host galaxy. ACS/HRC/WFC/NIC2 10399 Accurate and Robust Calibration of the Extragalactic Distance Scale with the Maser Galaxy NGC4258 II The extragalactic distance scale {EDS} is defined by a comparison of Cepheid Period- Luminosity {PL} relations for nearby galaxies and the LMC, whose uncertain distance is thereby the SOLE anchor. Studies of masers orbiting the central black hole in NGC4258 have provided the most accurate extragalactic distance ever {7.2+/-0.5 Mpc}, and new radio data and analysis techniques will reduce the uncertainty to 3.5% {0.07 mag} by 2005. Since this distance is well determined and based on geometric arguments, NGC4258 can provide a much needed new anchor for the EDS. Ultimately, the combination of an independent measurement of H0 and measurements of CMB fluctuations {e.g., WMAP} can be used to directly constrain cosmological parameters including the equation of state of dark energy. In our Cycle 12 proposal, we defined a program spanning two cycles. The Cycle 12 portion was accepted. We have acquired WFC images and are constructing well sampled PL relations in 3 colors {BVI}. The purpose of the Cycle 13 observations is to address systematic sources of error and is crucial for the success of the entire program. To disentangle the effects of reddening and metallicity, and to characterize the effects of blending, we require 50 orbits to obtain H-band photometry {NICMOS/NIC2} and high resolution images {ACS/HRC}. ACS/WFC/WFPC2 10394 Deep imaging of newly discovered globular clusters in the outer halo of M31 Globular clusters {GCs} are fossil relics with which we can investigate the processes of galaxy formation and growth. We have recently discovered a sample of GCs, as part of a very wide area CCD survey of M31. These clusters span a range in projected galactocentric distance of 20 - 80 kpc, more than double the radii of the previous most remote known GC. Here we apply for deep ACS images of 13 GCs, which will allow us to study their stellar populations, line-of-sight distances and structural parameters. These will be used to: a} Investigate the merger history of M31, through an examination of variations in the RGB and HB morphologies, particularly to obtain metallicities and check for the presence of any second parameter effect in the HB. d} Determine, in conjuction with ground-based spectroscopy, the dynamical mass of M31 at large radius, providing a direct probe of the mass distribution of its dark halo. ACS/HRC/WFC 10389 ACS CCDs daily monitor - Cycle 13 - Part 2 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 program will be for the entire lifetime of ACS. ACS/HRC/WFC 10370 CCD Hot Pixel Annealing Hot pixel annealing will continue to be performed once every 4 weeks. The CCD TECs will be turned off and heaters will be activated to bring the detector temperatures to about +20C. This state will be held for approximately 12 hours, after which the heaters are turned off, the TECs turned on, and the CCDs returned to normal operating condition. To assess the effectiveness of the annealing, a bias and four dark images will be taken before and after the annealing procedure for both WFC and HRC. The HRC darks are taken in parallel with the WFC darks. The charge transfer efficiency {CTE} of the ACS CCD detectors declines as damage due to on-orbit radiation exposure accumulates. This degradation has been closely monitored at regular intervals, because it is likely to determine the useful lifetime of the CCDs. We will now combine the annealling activity with the charge transfer efficiency monitoring and also merge into the routine dark image collection. To this end, the CTE monitoring exposures have been moved into this proposal . All the data for this program is acquired using internal targets {lamps} only, so all of the exposures should be taken during Earth occultation time {but not during SAA passages}. This program emulates the ACS pre-flight ground calibration and post-launch SMOV testing {program 8948}, so that results from each epoch can be directly compared. Extended Pixel Edge Response {EPER} and First Pixel Response {FPR} data will be obtained over a range of signal levels for both the Wide Field Channel {WFC}, and the High Resolution Channel {HRC}. ACS/WFC/WFPC2 10241 An ACS H-alpha Survey of the Carina Nebula We propose an H-alpha ACS imaging survey covering 540 square arcminutes of the Carina Nebula, including an unbiased survey of the bright core, and several prominent dust pillars in the rich southern region of the nebula. Carina provides an important link between well-studied nearby H II regions like Orion, and more distant mini-starbusts like 30 Doradus. CVZ orbits will allow extremely efficient use of HST to map a large area of this complex and important region -- more than 95 percent of the proposed survey will be observed by HST for the first time. This survey will provide a complete census of microjets, proplyds, and silhouette disks with diameters as small as 200 AU, enough to spatially resolve disks like those in Orion, and will provide the first catalog of outflows {jets} from embedded low-mass stars, thin filamentary shocks, and wind-wind collisions in Carina. An accurate census of these phenomena is needed to characterize the star formation activity and gas dynamics as a function of position in the nebula, and to determine if models for protoplanetary disk evaporation from Orion are applicable in more extreme regions. Our previous ground-based optical and IR surveys have already revealed dozens of candidates for this type of activity -- but this is just the tip of the iceberg. Our proposed HST/ACS survey promises to be a bonanza for understanding ongoing low-mass star formation influenced by extremely high-mass stars. ACS/HRC/NIC3 10182 Towards a Comprehensive Understanding of Type Ia Supernovae: The Necessity of UV Observations Type Ia supernovae {SNe Ia} are very important to many diverse areas of astrophysics, from the chemical evolution of galaxies to observational cosmology which led to the discovery of dark energy and the accelerating Universe. However, the utility of SNe Ia as cosmological probes depends on the degree of our understanding of SN Ia physics, and various systematic effects such as cosmic chemical evolution. At present, the progenitors of SNe Ia and the exact explosion mechanisms are still poorly understood, as are evolutionary effects on SN Ia peak luminosities. Since early-time UV spectra and light curves of nearby SNe Ia can directly address these questions, we propose an approach consisting of two observational components: {1} Detailed studies of two very bright, young, nearby SNe Ia with HST UV spectroscopy at 13 epochs within the first 1.5 months after discovery; and {2} studies of correlations with luminosity for five somewhat more distant Hubble-flow SNe Ia, for which relative luminosities can be determined with precision, using 8 epochs of HST UV spectroscopy and/or broad-band imaging. The HST data, along with extensive ground-based optical to near-IR observations, will be analyzed with state-of-the-art models to probe SN Ia explosion physics and constrain the nature of the progenitors. The results will form the basis for the next phase of precision cosmology measurements using SNe Ia, allowing us to more fully capitalize on the substantial past {and future} investments of time made with HST in observations of high-redshift SNe Ia. NIC2 10173 Infrared 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 NICMOS infrared images of 3CR sources with z0.3 as a major enhancement to an already superb dataset. We aim to deshroud dusty galaxies, study the underlying host galaxy free from the distorting effects of dust, locate hidden regions of star formation and establish the physical characteristics of the dust itself. We will measure frequency and spectral energy distributions of point-like nuclei, expected to be stronger and more prevalent in the IR, 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. The resulting database will be an incredibly valuable resource to the astronomical community for years to come. ACS/WFC 10154 Morphology of z ~ 7-10 galaxies viewed through gravitational telescopes The aim of these observations is to obtain deep z/ACS and H/NICMOS images in the core of two lensing clusters, A1835 and AC114, where a few z ~ 7-10 galaxy candidates have been selected from our ultra-deep JHK imaging program with Isaac/VLT. Spectroscopic observations have allowed to confirm 2 of these candidates thanks to the detection of faint emission lines identified as Lyman alpha at z=7.2 and 10. Our HST project is focused on two main goals: {1} the morphological confirmation of galaxy candidates lying near critical lines, and {2} the determination of the physical scales involved in star-forming regions at z ~ 7-10. These goals should have important implications on our present knowledge of the galaxy formation process in the early Universe. NIC1 10143 Ultracool companions to the nearest L dwarfs We propose to conduct the most sensitive survey to date for low mass companions to nearby L dwarfs. We will use NICMOS to image targets drawn from a volume-complete sample of 70 L dwarfs within 20 parsecs. The combination of infrared imaging and proximity will allow us to search for T dwarf companions at separations as small as 1.6 AU. This is crucial, since no ultracool binaries are currently known with separations exceeding 15 AU. Only 10 dwarfs in this sample have previous HST observations primarily at optical wavelengths. With the increased sensitivity of our survey, we will provide the most stringent test to date of brown dwarf models which envisage formation as ejected stellar embryos. In addition, our observations will be capable of detecting binaries with mass ratios as low as 0.3, and will therefore also test the apparent preference for equal-mass ultracool binaries. Finally, our observations offer the best prospect to date of detecting companions significantly cooler than the coolest t dwarf currently known. FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY: Significant Spacecraft Anomalies: (The following are preliminary reports of potential non-nominal performance that will be investigated.) HSTARS: #9890: GSACQ(2,1,2) fine lock backup, scan step limit exceeded on FGS 2 @196/2133z GSACQ(2,1,2) at 196/21:29:09 ended in fine lock backup on FGS 2 due to scan step limit exceeded on FGS 2 at 21:32:42. #9891: Gsacq(1,2,2)fine lock backup (1,0,1) scan step limit exceeded on FGS 2 @198/1240z GSacq(1,2,2)@ 198/12:39:41 ended in fine lock backup on FGS 1 due to scan step limit exceeded on FGS 2 at 12:43:04. #9892: Gsacq(3,2,2)fine lock backup (2,0,2) scan step limit exceeded on FGS 3 @198/1423z GSacq(3,2,2)@ 198/14:18:17 ended in fine lock backup on FGS 2 due to scan step limit exceeded on FGS 3 at 14:22:55. #9893: GSacq(1,2,1) Resulted in Fine Lock Backup (1,0,1) @199/02:50z GSacq(1,2,1) scheduled at 199/02:49:37 resulted in fine lock backup (1,0,1) due to scan step limit exceeded on fgs 2. COMPLETED OPS REQUEST: #17470-0: FHST Maps DOY 197 @197/0910z COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None) SCHEDULED SUCCESSFUL FGS Gsacq 40 40 FGS Reacq 17 17 FHST Update 37 37 SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None) |
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