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Daily # 3975



 
 
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Old October 28th 05, 04:04 PM
Joe Cooper
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Default Daily # 3975

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT # 3975

PERIOD COVERED: UT October 26, 2005 (DOY 299)

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED

ACS/HRC 10545

Icy planetoids of the outer solar system

Early HST studies of satellites of Kuiper belt object focussed on the
50-200 km objects that were the largest known at the time. In the past 3
years we have discovered a population of much more rare and much larger
{500-2000+ km} icy planetoids in the Kuiper belt. These objects are the
largest and brightest known in the Kuiper belt and, in the era when we
now know of more than 1000 Kuiper belt objects, these few planetoids are
likely to be the focus of much of the research on physical properties of
the outer solar system for years to come. We are currently engaged in an
intensive program involving Spitzer, Keck, and other telescopes to study
the physical and dynamical properties of this new population. HST is
uniquely capable of addressing one parameter fundamental to completing
the physical picture of these planetoids: the existence and size of any
satellites. The detection and characterization of satellites to these
large planetoids would allow us to address unique issues critical to the
formation and evolution of the outer solar system, including the
measurement of densities, internal properties, sizes and shapes of these
objects, the study of binary formation as a function of primary size,
and the context of the Pluto-Charon binary. For these bright objects, a
satellite search takes less than a full orbit, allowing the opportunity
for a new project on UV spectroscopy of the planetoids to piggyback at
no added time cost. This poorly explored spectral range has the
potential to show unique signatures of trapped gasses, cosmochemically
important ices, and complex organic materials.

ACS/HRC 10731

UV Narrow Band Red Leak

Red leaks check for UV and narrowband filters.

ACS/HRC/WFC 10729

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 Oct, 2 2005- May, 29-2006. The second half of
the program has a different proposal number: 10758.

ACS/SBC 10489

Imaging Extended UV H2 Emission Around T Tauri

The interactions between the circumstellar disk, newly-forming star, and
bipolar jet outflows play a central role in the process of star
formation. These interactions control how disks evolve and dissipate,
and, thereby, control the process of planetary system formation. We
shall image the UV molecular hydrogen {H2} emission around the
pre-main-sequence binary star T Tauri using the ACS SBC {solar blind
channel} MAMA detector, thus determining the spatial properties of the
H2 emitting regions, and deriving important detailed observational
information on the disk-star-jet interaction on scales of order 5 AU.
These images will reveal the degree of collimation and opening angles of
the innermost parts of the high velocity jets, the shock structure
within the jet outflows, the size and morphology of the circumstellar
disks, both in emission and in silhouette, and the conditions inside the
polar cavities swept clear by Herbig-Haro flows. Fluorescent H2 emission
lines dominate the UV spectrum of T Tau. Long-slit {1-D} STIS UV spectra
of T Tau show H2 emission with a complex spatial structure extending
many arcseconds from the star and the presence of significant shock
structures. The H2 must be warm {approx. 2000 K} for the fluorescence to
operate. The molecular emission originates in shocks and, perhaps, also
from the surfaces of the inner regions of accretion disks.

ACS/SBC 10506

Coordinated observations of Saturn's auroral dynamic morphology and
Cassini plasma measurements

Planetary FUV aurora is the most spectacular signature of the
electrodynamical coupling between the solar wind, the planet's magnetic
field, and its atmosphere. Saturn's magnetosphere has similarities both
with the Earth's magnetosphere, which is 'open' to solar wind
interaction and Jupiter's relatively 'closed' case with its large
internal sources of plasma. HST observations of Saturn's aurora have
shown a much more complex and dynamic morphology than anticipated: a
frequent 'spiral' structure, a changing size of the oval in response to
variations of the solar wind dynamics pressure, and large brightness
changes in a few ten of minutes following compression of the
magnetosphere by the solar wind. In addition, the global morphology and
some spots move at 70% of the planetary co-rotation, while some other
features appear nearly fixed in local time. Recently, ideas have emerged
to account for Saturn's aurora specificities, although many aspects are
still not understood due to the paucity of observational data. Electric
current models suggest that the main oval is located at the limit
between closed and open magnetic field lines, near the magnetopause. The
availability of Cassini in Saturn's magnetic environment now offers a
unique opportunity for collaborative science. We thus propose to test
the relationship between the aurora and conditions at Saturn's
magnetopause {MP} boundary. We plan to image the FUV aurora with ACS at
times of inbound Cassini crossing of the MP from the upstream solar
wind/magnetosheath region into the middle magnetosphere during an
inbound segment of a Cassini's orbit. FUV images will also reveal
whether the main oval changes its size over the interval, possibly
indicating evidence for changes in the amount of open flux in the
system. These HST images of the aurora simultaneous with in situ
measurements of the plasma characteristics and electrodynamics inside
the magnetosphere are critical to obtain key observational tests and
constraints to future ideas and models of Saturn's auroral precipitation
and magnetospheric processes involved.

ACS/SBC 10739

Internal Flat Field Stability

The stability of the CCD flat fields will be monitored using the
calibration lamps and a sub-sample of the filter set. For the SBC
imaging filters, differences in the low-frequency flat field structure
with wavelength will be assessed. New high signal P-flats will be
obtained for the SBC prisms.

ACS/WFC 10491

A Snapshot Survey of the most massive clusters of galaxies

We propose a snapshot survey of a sample of 124 high X-ray luminosity
clusters in the redshift range 0.3-0.7. Similarly luminous clusters at
these redshifts frequently exhibit strong gravitational lensing. The
proposed observations will provide important constraints on the nature
of the cluster mass distributions and a set of optically bright, lensed
galaxies for further 8-10m spectroscopy. We acknowledge the broad
community interest in this sample and waive our data rights for these
observations.

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/WFC 10523

The Halo Shape and Metallicity of Massive Spiral Galaxies

We propose to resolve the stellar populations of the halos of seven
nearby, massive disk galaxies using a SNAP survey with WFC/ACS. These
observations will provide star counts and color-magnitude diagrams 2-3
magnitudes below the tip of the Red Giant Branch along the two principal
axes and one intermediate axis of each galaxy. We will measure the
metallicity distribution functions and stellar density profiles from
star counts down to very low average surface brightnesses, equivalent to
~31 V-mag per square arcsec. This proposal will create a unique sampling
of galaxy halo properties, as our targets cover a range in galaxy mass,
luminosity, inclination, and morphology. As function of these galaxy
properties this survey will provide:- the first systematic measurement
of radial light profiles and axial ratios of the diffuse stellar halos
and outer disks of spiral galaxies- a comprehensive analysis of halo
metallicity distributions as function of galaxy type and position within
the galaxy- an unprecedented study of the stellar metallicity and age
distribution in the outer disk regions where the disk truncations occur-
the first comparative study of globular clusters and their field stellar
populations We will use these fossil records of the galaxy assembly
process to test halo formation models within the hierarchical galaxy
formation scheme.

ACS/WFC/NIC3 10632

Searching for galaxies at z6.5 in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field

We propose to obtain deep ACS {F606W, F775W, F850LP} imaging in the area
of the original Hubble Ultra Deep Field NICMOS parallel fields and -
through simultaneous parallel observations - deep NICMOS {F110W, F160W}
imaging of the ACS UDF area. Matching the extreme imaging depth in the
optical and near-IR bands will result in seven fields with sufficiently
sensitive multiband data to detect the expected typical galaxies at z=7
and 8. Presently no such a field exist. Our combined optical and near-IR
ultradeep fields will be in three areas separated by about 20 comoving
Mpc at z=7. This will allow us to give a first assessment of the degree
of cosmic variance. If reionization is a process extending over a large
redshift interval and the luminosity function doesn't evolve strongly
beyond z=6, these data will allow us to identify of the order of a dozen
galaxies at 6.5z8.5 - using the Lyman break technique - and to place a
first constrain on the luminosity function at z6.5. Conversely, finding
fewer objects would be an indication that the bulk of reionization is
done by galaxies at z=6. By spending 204 orbits of prime HST time we
will capitalize on the investment of 544 prime orbits already made on
the Hubble Ultra Deep Field {UDF}. We have verified that the program as
proposed is schedulable and that it will remain so even if forced to
execute in the 2-gyro mode. The data will be non-proprietary and the
reduced images will be made public within 2 months from the completion
of the observations.

FGS 10610

Astrometric Masses of Extrasolar Planets and Brown Dwarfs

We propose observations with HST/FGS to estimate the astrometric
elements {perturbation orbit semi-major axis and inclination} of
extra-solar planets orbiting six stars. These companions were originally
detected by radial velocity techniques. We have demonstrated that FGS
astrometry of even a short segment of reflex motion, when combined with
extensive radial velocity information, can yield useful inclination
information {McArthur et al. 2004}, allowing us to determine companion
masses. Extrasolar planet masses assist in two ongoing research
frontiers. First, they provide useful boundary conditions for models of
planetary formation and evolution of planetary systems. Second, knowing
that a star in fact has a plantary mass companion, increases the value
of that system to future extrasolar planet observation missions such as
SIM PlanetQuest, TPF, and GAIA.

FGS 10757

Monitoring FGS1r's Interferometric Response as a Function of Spectral
Color

This proposal obtains reference point source Transfer Functions
{S-Curves} for FGS1r through the F583W filter and the F5ND attenuator at
the center position of the FGS1r FOV for a variety of stars of different
spectral types. These Transfer Functions are needed to support the
analysis of GO science data for the study of close and wide binary star
systems and for determining the angular size and shape of extended
sources. This proposal observes stars that have been observed in
previous cycles to monitor the long term evolution of the FGS1r
S-curves. This proposal also {1} monitors the FGS1r Lateral Color
response {using stars Latcol-A and Latcol-B}, {2} calibrates the
"Pos/Trans" bias of a star's position as determined from Transfer mode
and Position mode observations, and {3} calibrates the shift of a star's
centroid when observed with F5ND relative to that when observed with
F583W.

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.

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: (None)

COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None)

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)


 




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