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Daily 3809
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to collect World Class Science
DAILY REPORT # 3809 PERIOD COVERED: DOY 62 OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED ACS/HRC 10114 Lyman_alpha FUV observations of the Sun in time and effects on planetary atmospheres The chromospheric H I Ly_alpha 1215.6 feature is the dominant source of short-wave emission in the Sun and solar-type stars, contributing about 80-90% of the total FUV flux and 30-60% of the total flux between 1 and 1500 A. Also, this important chromospheric line is the major cooling channel for cool star atmospheres. Accurate Ly_alpha fluxes are the only missing element of our ongoing "Sun in Time" program. This program studies a sample of single G0-5 V stars with well-known physical properties that serve as proxies for the Sun {and solar-mass stars} over their main sequence lifetimes. One of the major goals of the program is the determination of the spectral irradiance of the early Sun. Our analyses indicate that the strong XUV emissions of the young Sun have played a crucial role in the developing planetary system. In particular, the expected strong Ly_alpha line flux may have greatly influenced the photoionization, photochemical evolution and possible erosion of planetary atmospheres, as well as played a role in the origin and development of life on Earth. The "Sun in Time" data can also be applied to investigate the atmospheric loss of exoplanets around solar-type stars resulting from XUV heating, which can eventually lead to the evaporation of "hot Jupiters". We propose to determine accurate FUV and Ly-alpha fluxes and irradiances for 4 representative solar proxies with ages from 130 Myr to 6.7 Gyr. The proposed study is of capital importance in reconstructing the evolutionary histories of exoplanets already known and additional planets that missions such as COROT, Kepler, SIM, and Darwin/TPF will discover in the coming years. ACS/HRC 10137 Cluster Archeology: The Origin of Ultra-compact Dwarf Galaxies Ultra-compact dwarf {UCD} galaxies are a new type of galaxy we have discovered in the central regions of the Fornax and Virgo galaxy clusters. Our most recent observations in the Fornax Cluster show that UCDs outnumber normal galaxies in the centre of that cluster. Here we propose snapshot imaging of UCDs in the Fornax and Virgo clusters to test theories of how these fascinating objects formed. In particular we wish to image Virgo cluster UCDs for which we have ground-based Keck spectroscopy to test predictions that they formed more recently than the Fornax UCDs. ACS/HRC 10255 A Never Before Explored Phase Space: Resolving Close White Dwarf / Red Dwarf Binaries We propose an ACS Snapshot imaging survey to resolve a well-defined sample of highly probable white dwarf plus red dwarf close binaries. These candidates were selected from a search for white dwarfs with infrared excess from the 2MASS database. They represent unresolved systems {separations less than approximately 2" in the 2MASS images} and are distributed over the whole sky. Our HST+ACS observations will be sensitive to a separation range {1-20 AU} never before probed by any means. The proposed study will be the first empirical test of binary star parameters in the post-AGB phase, and cannot be accomplished from the ground. By resolving as few as 20 of our ~100 targets with HST, we will be able to characterize the distribution of orbital semi- major axes and secondary star masses. ACS/HRC 10272 A Snapshot Survey of the Sites of Recent, Nearby Supernovae During the past few years, robotic {or nearly robotic} searches for supernovae {SNe}, most notably our Lick Observatory Supernova Search {LOSS}, have found hundreds of SNe, many of them in quite nearby galaxies {cz 4000 km/s}. Most of the objects were discovered before maximum brightness, and have follow-up photometry and spectroscopy; they include some of the best-studied SNe to date. We propose to conduct a snapshot imaging survey of the sites of some of these nearby objects, to obtain late-time photometry that {through the shape of the light and color curves} will help reveal the origin of their lingering energy. The images will also provide high- resolution information on the local environment of SNe that are far superior to what we can procure from the ground. For example, we will obtain color-color and color-magnitude diagrams of stars in these SN sites, to determine their progenitor masses and constraints on the reddening. Recovery of the SNe in the new HST images will also allow us to actually pinpoint their progenitor stars in cases where pre-explosion images exist in the HST archive. Use of ACS rather than WFPC2 will make our snapshot survey even more valuable than our Cycle 9 survey. This Proposal is complementary to our Cycle 13 archival proposal, in which we outline a plan for using existing HST images to glean information about SN environments. ACS/WFC 10152 A Snapshot Survey of a Complete Sample of X-ray Luminous Galaxy Clusters from Redshift 0.3 to 0.7 We propose a public, uniform imaging survey of a well-studied, complete, and homogeneous sample of X-ray clusters. The sample of 73 clusters spans the redshift range between 0.3-0.7. The samples spans almost 2 orders of magnitude of X-ray luminosity, where half of the sample has X-ray luminosities greater than 10^44 erg/s {0.5- 2.0 keV}. These snapshots will be used to obtain a fair census of the the morphology of cluster galaxies in the cores of clusters, to detect radial and tangential arc candidates, to detect optical jet candidates, and to provide an approximate estimate of the shear signal of the clusters themselves, and potentially an assessment of the contribution of large scale structure to lensing shear. ACS/WFC/WFPC2 10092 The COSMOS 2-Degree ACS Survey We will undertake a 2 square degree imaging survey {Cosmic Evolution Survey -- COSMOS} with ACS in the I {F814W} band of the VIMOS equatorial field. This wide field survey is essential to understand the interplay between Large Scale Structure {LSS} evolution and the formation of galaxies, dark matter and AGNs and is the one region of parameter space completely unexplored at present by HST. The equatorial field was selected for its accessibility to all ground-based telescopes and low IR background and because it will eventually contain ~100, 000 galaxy spectra from the VLT-VIMOS instrument. The imaging will detect over 2 million objects with I 27 mag {AB, 10 sigma}, over 35, 000 Lyman Break Galaxies {LBGs} and extremely red galaxies out to z ~ 5. COSMOS is the only HST project specifically designed to probe the formation and evolution of structures ranging from galaxies up to Coma-size clusters in the epoch of peak galaxy, AGN, star and cluster formation {z ~0.5 to 3}. The size of the largest structures necessitate the 2 degree field. Our team is committed to the assembly of several public ancillary datasets including the optical spectra, deep XMM and VLA imaging, ground-based optical/IR imaging, UV imaging from GALEX and IR data from SIRTF. Combining the full-spectrum multiwavelength imaging and spectroscopic coverage with ACS sub-kpc resolution, COSMOS will be Hubble's ultimate legacy for understanding the evolution of both the visible and dark 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. NIC1/NIC2/NIC3 8792 NICMOS Post-SAA calibration - CR Persistence Part 3 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 10176 Coronagraphic Survey for Giant Planets Around Nearby Young Stars A systematic imaging search for extra-solar Jovian planets is now possible thanks to recent progress in identifying "young stars near Earth". For most of the proposed young {~ 30 Myrs} and nearby {~ 60 pc} targets, we can detect a few Jupiter-mass planets as close as a few tens of AUs from the primary stars. This represents the first time that potential analogs of our solar system - that is planetary systems with giant planets having semi-major axes comparable to those of the four giant planets of the Solar System - come within the grasp of existing instrumentation. Our proposed targets have not been observed for planets with the Hubble Space Telescope previously. Considering the very successful earlier NICMOS observations of low mass brown dwarfs and planetary disks among members of the TW Hydrae Association, a fair fraction of our targets should also turn out to posses low mass brown dwarfs, giant planets, or dusty planetary disks because our targets are similar to {or even better than} the TW Hydrae stars in terms of youth and proximity to Earth. Should HST time be awarded and planetary mass candidates be found, proper motion follow-up of candidate planets will be done with ground-based AOs. NIC3 10337 The COSMOS 2-Degree ACS Survey NICMOS Parallels The COSMOS 2-Degree ACS Survey NICMOS Parallels. This program is a companion to program 10092. NIC3/WFPC2 10403 Ultraviolet Imaging of the UDF The Hubble Deep Field North has uninterrupted observations at wavelengths from Far- UV through NICMOS H-band, but the UDF goes no bluer than B-band. We propose to complete the UDF coverage with deep ultraviolet imaging of the Ultra-Deep Field {UDF} with the ACS-SBC in the Far-UV {1500 Angstrom} and WFPC2 in the Near-UV {F300W}. We will reach point source limits of ABmag=28.5, a factor of ten fainter than the GALEX ultradeep surveys. Our dataset will add to the value of the UDF legacy, and requires the unique capabilities of HST. In the spirit of the UDF, we submit this proposal in the Treasury category. We request a modest allocation of observing time for a Treasury program: 62 orbits. We will provide science quality images and photometric catalogs to enable a range of research topics by the community. The science goals of the team are to investigate the episode of strong star formation activity in galaxies out to z=1, through the rest-frame FUV luminosity function and the internal color structure of galaxies. Far-UV number counts suggest that moderate redshift {z~0.5} starbursts are undergoing a single, rapid burst of star-formation. We will investigate this result by measuring the faint-end slope, alpha, of the luminosity function. We will measure the star formation properties of moderate redshift starburst galaxies and compare their morphologies in the UV, optical, and near-IR. This catalog of starbursts will also be important to the astronomical community in correlating unobscured star-formation with the sources detected in the Spitzer Space Telescope legacy observations of the field. With the high spatial resolution data, will set strict limits on the flux escaping in intermediate redshift {1z2} galaxies at wavelengths below the rest-frame Lyman limit, and thus infer the contribution of star forming galaxies at z~5 to the metagalactic ionizing radiation. WFPC2 10363 WFPC2 CYCLE 13 Intflat and Visflat Sweeps and Filter Rotation Anomaly Monitor Using intflat observations, this WFPC2 proposal is designed to monitor the pixel-to-pixel flatfield response and provide a linearity check. The intflat sequences, to be done once during the year, are similar to those from the Cycle 12 program 10075. The images will provide a backup database as well as allow monitoring of the gain ratios. The sweep is a complete set of internal flats, cycling through both shutter blades and both gains. The linearity test consists of a series of intflats in F555W, in each gain and each shutter. As in Cycle 12, we plan to continue to take extra visflat, intflat, and earthflat exposures to test the repeatability of filter wheel motions. FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY: Significant Spacecraft Anomalies: (The following are preliminary reports of potential non-nominal performance that will be investigated.) HSTAR 9733: ReAcq(2,1,1) returns to SSM control @ 05/056/02:32:30z -OTA SE review of PTAS processing log of M_SA055P SMS reveals the ReAcq(2,1,1) that began at 2005.056/02:29:36, achieved FL-DV on both FGS2&1 by 056/02:32:03, but both FGSs were returned to SSM control at 056/02:32:30. Both FGSs successfully recovered to FL-DV at 056/02:33:35. No further signs of LoL were seen. HSTAR 9734: GSacq(3,2,2) resulted in FLBU during LOS @ 05/062/18:59:12z- During LOS GSacq(3,2,2)scheduled for 062/18:59:12 - 19:06:30 resulted in FLBU on FGS #3. At AOS there were no FLAGS going out however only FGS #3 had fine locked. The map scheduled for 19:31:40 showed attitude errors of: -4.795, -5.598, -3.783 (arcsec).possible observations affected: ACS 86 - 89. Under investigation. COMPLETED OPS REQs: None OPS NOTES EXECUTED: None SCHEDULED SUCCESSFUL FAILURE TIMES FGS Gsacq 14 14 FGS Reacq 04 04 FHST Update 16 16 LOSS of LOCK SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: None |
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