Daily Report #4654

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT****** #4654

PERIOD COVERED: 5am July 16 - 5am July 17, 2008 (DOY
198/0900z-199/0900z)

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 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.

WEPC2 11196

An Ultraviolet Survey 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 starbursts and creating/fueling
central AGN. We propose far {ACS/SBC/F140LP} and near {WFPC2/PC/F218W}
UV imaging of a sample of 27 galaxies drawn from the complete IRAS
Revised Bright Galaxy Sample {RBGS} LIRGs sample and known, from our
Cycle 14 B and I-band ACS imaging observations, to have significant
numbers of bright {23 B 21 mag} star clusters in the central 30
arcsec. The HST UV data will be combined with previously obtained HST,
Spitzer, and GALEX images to {i} calculate the ages of the clusters as
function of merger stage, {ii} measure the amount of UV light in
massive star clusters relative to diffuse regions of star formation,
{iii} assess the feasibility of using the UV slope to predict the
far-IR luminosity {and thus the star formation rate} both among and
within IR-luminous galaxies, and {iv} provide a much needed catalog of
rest-frame UV morphologies for comparison with rest-frame UV images of
high-z LIRGs and Lyman Break Galaxies. These observations will achieve
the resolution required to perform both detailed photometry of compact
structures and spatial correlations between UV and redder wavelengths
for a physical interpretation our IRX-Beta results. The HST UV data,
combined with the HST ACS, Spitzer, Chandra, and GALEX observations of
this sample, will result in the most comprehensive study of luminous
starburst galaxies to date.

WFPC2 11113

Binaries in the Kuiper Belt: Probes of Solar System Formation and
Evolution

The discovery of binaries in the Kuiper Belt and related small body
populations is powering a revolutionary step forward in the study of
this remote region. Three quarters of the known binaries in the Kuiper
Belt have been discovered with HST, most by our snapshot surveys. The
statistics derived from this work are beginning to yield surprising
and unexpected results. We have found a strong concentration of
binaries among low-inclination Classicals, a possible size cutoff to
binaries among the Centaurs, an apparent preference for nearly equal
mass binaries, and a strong increase in the number of binaries at
small separations. We propose to continue this successful program in
Cycle 16; we expect to discover at least 13 new binary systems,
targeted to subgroups where these discoveries can have the greatest
impact.

WFPC2 11122

Expanding PNe: Distances and Hydro Models

We propose to obtain repeat narrowband images of a sample of eighteen
planetary nebulae {PNe} which have HST/WFPC2 archival data spanning
time baselines of a decade. All of these targets have previous high
signal-to-noise WFPC2/PC observations and are sufficiently nearby to
have readily detectable expansion signatures after a few years. Our
main scientific objectives are {a} to determine precise distances to
these PNe based on their angular expansions, {b} to test detailed and
highly successful hydrodynamic models that predict nebular
morphologies and expansions for subsamples of round/elliptical and
axisymmetric PNe, and {c} to monitor the proper motions of nebular
microstructures in an effort to learn more about their physical nature
and formation mechanisms. The proposed observations will result in
high-precision distances to a healthy subsample of PNe, and from this
their expansion ages, luminosities, CSPN properties, and masses of
their ionized cores. With good distances and our hydro models, we will
be able to determine fundamental parameters {such as nebular and
central star masses, luminosity, age}. The same images allow us to
monitor the changing overall ionization state and to search for the
surprisingly non-homologous growth patterns to bright elliptical PNe
of the same sort seen by Balick & Hajian {2004} in NGC 6543.
Non-uniform growth is a sure sign of active pressure imbalances within
the nebula that require careful hydro models to understand.

FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:

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

HSTARS:

11396 - GSAcq (1,2,1) failed due to Search Radius Limit Exceeded on
FGS 2

At 198/17:07:41, GSAcq (1,2,1) scheduled from 17:04:07 - 17:11:19
failed to RGA control due to Search Radius Limit Exceeded on FGS 2.
Received flags QF2SRLEX and QF2STOPF on FGS 2. Received 486 ESB
message a07 "Exceeded SRL". FGS 1 achieved Fine Lock at 17:06:49.

Observations affected: NICMOS 72 - 77, WFPC #88 to 108.

REACQ(1,2,1) at 18:37:41, 20:13:31 and 21:49:21 alos failed.

11398 - OBAD Failed Quaternion (ESB 1903)

At 199/06:12:54 OBAD2 scheduled at 199/06:10:05 using FHST Trackers 1
and 3 failed. OBAD Flag mnemonic GOBSTAT posted "AttDtErr" status. One
486 ESB 1903 "OBAD Failed Quaternion" was received at 199/06:12:54.
Additional 486 ESB 1806 (T2G Open Loop Timeout) received at
199/06:12:15. The subsequent guide star did not attempt.

11399 - GSAcq (1,2,1) not attempted, open loop timer expired

GSAcq (1,2,1) scheduled at 199/06:16:42 - 06:24:47 was not attempted
due to open loop timer expiration. The acquistion failure resulted in
unplanned transition to M2G.

The subsequent REAcq(1,2,1) scheduled at 199/07:52:19 was not
attempted. One 486 ESB 1903 "OBAD Failed Quaternion" was received.
Additional ESB 1806 (T2G Open Loop Timeout)was received. HST
transitioned to unplanned M2G.

Possible Observations affected: NICMOS #84-93 Proposal #08795 &
11545.

COMPLETED OPS REQUEST:

17543-2 - Dump OBAD tables after failed OBAD (Generic) @ 199/08:02z

COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None)

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

FGS GSacq**************** 07***************** 05
FGS REacq**************** 07***************** 03
OBAD with Maneuver* *** * 28***************** 27

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)