Daily Report #4653

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT***** #4653

PERIOD COVERED: 5am July 15 - 5am July 16, 2008 (DOY
197/0900z-198/0900z)

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED

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 11197

Sweeping Away the Dust: Reliable Dark Energy with an Infrared Hubble
Diagram

We propose building a high-z Hubble Diagram using type Ia supernovae
observed in the infrared rest-frame J-band. The infrared has a number
of exceptional properties. The effect of dust extinction is minimal,
reducing a major systematic that may be biasing dark energy
measurements. Also, recent work indicates that type Ia supernovae are
true standard candles in the infrared meaning that our Hubble diagram
will be resistant to possible evolution in the Phillip's relation over
cosmic time. High signal-to-noise measurements of 16 type Ia events at
z~0.4 will be compared with an independent optical Hubble diagram from
the ESSENCE project to test for a shift in the derived dark energy
equation of state due to a systematic bias. In Cycle 15 we obtained
NICMOS photometry of 8 ESSENCE supernovae and are awaiting template
observations to place them on the IR Hubble diagram. Here we request
another 8 supernovae be studied in the final season of the ESSENCE
search. Because of the bright sky background, H-band photometry of
z~0.4 supernovae is not feasible from the ground. Only the superb
image quality and dark infrared sky seen by HST makes this test
possible. This experiment may also lead to a better, more reliable way
of mapping the expansion history of the universe with the Joint Dark
Energy Mission.

NIC2 11237

The Origin of the Break in the AGN Luminosity Function

We propose to use NICMOS imaging to measure rest-frame optical
luminosities and morphological properties of a complete sample of
faint AGN host galaxies at redshifts z ~ 1.4. The targets are drawn
from the VLT-VIMOS Deep Survey, and they constitute a sample of the
lowest luminosity type 1 AGN known at z 1. The spectroscopically
estimated black hole masses are up to an order of magnitude higher
than expected given their nuclear luminosities, implying highly
sub-Eddington accretion rates. This exactly matches the prediction
made by recent theoretical models of AGN evolution, according to which
the faint end of the AGN luminosity function is populated mainly by
big black holes that have already exhausted a good part of their fuel.
In this proposal we want to test further predictions of that
hypothesis, by focusing on the host galaxy properties of our
low-luminosity, low- accretion AGN. If the local ratio between black
hole and bulge masses holds at least approximately at these redshifts,
one expects most of these low-luminosity AGN to reside in fairly big
ellipticals with stellar masses around and above 10^11 solar masses
(in contrast to the Seyfert phenomenon in the local universe). With
NICMOS imaging we will find out whether that is true, implying also a
sensitive test for the validity of the M_BH/M_bulge relation at z ~
1.4.

NIC2 11547

Characterizing Pre-Main Sequence Populations in Stellar Associations
of the Large Magellanic Cloud

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) offers an extremely rich sample of
resolved low-mass stars (below 1 Solar Mass) in the act of formation
that has not been explored sufficiently yet. These pre-main sequence
(PMS) stars provide a unique snapshot of the star formation process,
as it is being recorded for the last ~20 Myr, and they give important
information on the low-mass Initial Mass Function (IMF) of their host
stellar systems. Studies of young, rich LMC clusters like 30 Doradus
are crowding limited, even at the angular resolution facilitated by
HST in the optical. To learn more about low-mass PMS stars in the LMC,
one has to study less crowded regions like young stellar associations.
We propose to employ WFPC2 to obtain deep photometry (V ~ 25.5 mag) of
four selected LMC stellar associations in order to perform an original
optical analysis of their red PMS and blue bright MS stellar
populations. With these observations we aim at a comprehensive study,
which will add substantial information on the most recent star
formation and the IMF in the LMC. The data reduction and analysis will
be performed with a 2D photometry software package especially
developed by us for WFPC2 imaging of extended stellar associations
with variable background. Our targets have been selected optimizing a
combination of criteria, namely spatial resolution, crowding, low
extinction, nebular contamination, and background confusion in
comparison to other regions in the Local Group. Parallel NICMOS
imaging will provide additional information on near-infrared
properties of the stellar population in the regions surrounding these
systems.

NIC2 11799

NICMOS Non-linearity Calibration for Faint Objects

NICMOS has played a key role in probing the deep near infrared regime
for a decade. It has been the only instrument available to observe
objects in the near infrared that are not visible from the ground. In
particular, it has played a major role in the SN Ia observations at
redshifts z1. However, the calibration of NICMOS has turned out to be
difficult due to the apparent non-linearity of the detectors. The
NICMOS calibration team has described the non-linearity as a power law
based on data in the range of ~50-5000 ADU/s. The correction relies on
an extrapolation of two orders of magnitude in flux at count rates
close to the sky level (0.1 ADU/s) where space observations are
particularly prized - and where SN Ia observations are made. Precise
measurements of faint objects require us to reduce the uncertainties
from this extrapolation. Here we propose to derive the absolute
calibration in the sky limited regime and to characterize the
non-linearity over the entire dynamic range for the camera/filter
combination: NIC2/F110W.

NIC3 11545

A NICMOS Survey of Newly-Discovered Young Massive Clusters

We are on the cusp of a revolution in massive star research triggered
by 2MASS and Spitzer/GLIMPSE, and now is the ideal time to capitalize
on these projects by performing the first survey of massive stars in
young stellar clusters throughout the Galactic plane. A search of the
2MASS and GLIMPSE surveys has produced over 450 newly-identified
massive stellar cluster candidates in the Galactic plane which are
hidden from our view at optical wavelengths due to extinction. Here we
propose a program of 29 orbits to image the most promising candidate
clusters in broad and narrow band filters using HST/NICMOS. We will be
complementing these observations with approved Spitzer and Chandra
programmes, numerous approved and planned ground-based spectroscopic
observations, and state-of-the-art modelling. We expect to
substantially increase the numbers of massive stars known in the
Galaxy, including main sequence OB stars and post-main sequence stars
in the Red Supergiant, Luminous Blue Variable and Wolf-Rayet stages.
Ultimately, this programme will address many of the fundamental topics
in astrophysics: the slope to the initial mass function (IMF), an
upper-limit to the masses of stars, the formation and evolution of the
most massive stars, gamma-ray burst (GRB) progenitors, the chemical
enrichment of the interstellar medium, and nature of the first stars
in the Universe.

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.

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)

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

FGS GSacq************** 08***************** 08
FGS REacq************** 06***************** 06
OBAD with Maneuver **** 28***************** 28

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)