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Daily Report #4812
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Continuing to collect World Class Science
DAILY REPORT****** #4812 PERIOD COVERED: 5am March 16 - 5am March 17, 2009 (DOY *************************** 075/0900z-076/0900z) OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED WFPC2 11302 WFPC2 CYCLE 16 Standard Darks - Part III This dark calibration program obtains dark frames every week in order to provide data for the ongoing calibration of the CCD dark current rate, and to monitor and characterize the evolution of hot pixels. Over an extended period these data will also provide a monitor of radiation damage to the CCDs. WFPC2 11793 WFPC2 Cycle 16 Internal Monitor This calibration proposal is the Cycle 15 routine internal monitor for WFPC2, to be run weekly to monitor the health of the cameras. A variety of internal exposures are obtained in order to provide a monitor of the integrity of the CCD camera electronics in both bays (both gain 7 and gain 15 -- to test stability of gains and bias levels), a test for quantum efficiency in the CCDs, and a monitor for possible buildup of contaminants on the CCD windows. These also provide raw data for generating annual super-bias reference files for the calibration pipeline. WFPC2 11975 UV Light from Old Stellar Populations: a Census of UV Sources in Galactic Globular Clusters In spite of the fact that HST has been the only operative high-resolution eye in the UV-window over the last 18 years, no homogeneous UV survey of Galactic globular clusters (GGCs) has been performed to date. In order to fill this gap in the stellar population studies, we propose a program that exploits the unique capability of the WFPC2 and the SBC in the far-/mid- UV for securing deep UV imaging of 46 GGCs. The proposed observations will allow to study with unprecedented accuracy the hottest GGC stars, comprising the extreme horizontal branch (HB) stars and their progeny (the so-called AGB-manque', and Post-early AGB stars), and "exotic stellar populations" like the blue straggler stars and the interacting binaries. The targets have been selected to properly sample the GGC metallicity/structural parameter space, thus to unveil any possible correlation between the properties of the hot stellar populations and the cluster characteristics. In addition, most of the targets have extended HB "blue tails", that can be properly studied only by means of deep UV observations, especially in the far-UV filters like the F160BW, that is not foreseen on the WFC3. This data base is complemented with GALEX observations in the cluster outermost regions, thus allowing to investigate any possible trend of the UV-bright stellar types over the entire radial extension of the clusters. Although the hottest GGC stars are just a small class of "special" objects, their study has a broad relevance in the context of structure formation and chemical evolution in the early Universe, bringing precious information on the basic star formation processes and the origin of blue light from galaxies. Indeed, the proposed observations will provide the community with an unprecedented data set suitable for addressing a number of still open astrophysical questions, ranging from the main drivers of the HB morphology and the mass loss processes, to the origin of the UV upturn in elliptical galaxies, the dating of distant systems from integrated light, and the complex interplay between stellar evolution and dynamics in dense stellar aggregates. In the spirit of constructing a community resource, we entirely waive the proprietary period for these observations. WFPC2 11983 An Imaging Survey of Protoplanetary Disks and Brown Dwarfs in the Chamaeleon I Region We propose to carry out a HST/WFPC2 survey of young brown dwarfs, Class I and Class II sources in the Chamaelon I region, one of the best-studied star-forming regions, in order to investigate the link between disk evolution and the formation of substellar-mass objects. We will use deep broad-band imaging in the I and z-equivalent HST bands to unveil the unknown population of substellar binary companions, down to a few Jupiter masses for separations of a few tens of AU. We will also perform narrow-band imaging to directly detect accreting circumstellar disks and jets around brown dwarfs, Class-I and class-II objects. Chamaelon I is nearly coeaval of Orion (~1-2Myr) but at ~1/3 its distance, allowing 3x higher resolution and 10x more flux for comparable objects. Unlike Orion, low-mass objects and protoplanetary disks in Chamaeleon I have been extensively studied with Spitzer, but not yet with the HST. The Chamaeleon I region is an ideal HST target, as it lies in the CVZ of the HST and therefore it is easily accessible any time of the year with long orbits. WFPC2 11986 Completing HST's Local Volume Legacy Nearby galaxies offer one of the few laboratories within which stellar populations can be tied to multi-wavelength observations. They are thus essential for calibrating and interpreting key astrophysical observables, such as broad-band luminosities, durations and energy input from starbursts, and timescales of UV, H-alpha, and FIR emission. The study of stellar populations in nearby galaxies requires high-resolution observations with HST, but HST's legacy for this limited set of galaxies remains incomplete. As a first attempt to establish this legacy, The ACS Nearby Galaxy Survey Treasury (ANGST) began observations in late 2006. ANGST was designed to carry out a uniform multi-color survey of a volume-limited sample of ~70 nearby galaxies that could be used for systematic studies of resolved stellar populations. The resulting data provide nuanced constraints on the processes which govern star formation and galaxy evolution, for a well-defined population of galaxies. All photometry for the survey has been publicly released. However, the failure of ACS 4.5 months after ANGST began taking data led to a drastic reduction in the planned survey. The loss is two-fold. First, the goals of completeness and uniformity were greatly compromised, impacting global comparison studies. Second, the variety of observed star formation histories was reduced. Given that we have never found two galaxies with identical star formation histories, and fully sampling the population allows us to catch those few systems whose star formation rates and metallicities place the strongest constraints on key astrophysical processes. Here we propose WFPC2 observations of all remaining galaxies within the Local Volume (D3.5Mpc) for which current HST observations are insufficient for meaningful stellar population studies. We will use these observations for research on the star formation histories of individual galaxies and the Local Volume, detailed calibrations of star formation rate indicators, and the durations of starbursts. We will also make them publicly available through the ANGST archive to support future research. The proposed observations will finally complete a lasting legacy of HST WFPC2 11988 Searching for Intermediate Mass Black Holes in Globular Clusters via Proper Motions The unambiguous detection of an intermediate mas black hole (IMBH) in a globular star cluster would be a major achievement for the Hubble Space Telescope. It is critical to know whether or not IMBHs exist in the centers of clusters in order to understand the dynamical evolution of dense stellar systems. Also, n IMBH detection would prove the existence of BHs in an entirely new mass range. Observationally, the search has been hampered by the low number of stars with known velocities in the central few arcseconds. This limits measurements of the stellar velocity dispersion in the region where the gravitational influence of any IMBH would be felt. Existing IMBH claims in the literature have all been called into question, and have all been based on line-of-sight velocities from spectroscopy. In cycle 13, we obtained ACS/HRC observations for 5 nearby Galactic globular clusters for a new proper motion study. Here, we request WFPC2/PC observations of these clusters, all of which are observable in Feb-May 2009. This 4 year baseline will allow us to measure the proper motions of stars into the very center of each cluster, and either detect or place firm constraints on the presence of an IMBH. In addition, we will determine whether or not the clusters rotate or show any anisotropy in their motions. Our small (75 orbit) program meets the criteria of addressing high impact science (IMBH detection) using innovative methods (proper motions). FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY: Significant Spacecraft Anomalies: (The following are preliminary reports of potential non-nominal performance that will be investigated.) HSTARS: 11727 - GSAcq(2,1,1) scheduled at 075/19:36:54 - 19:44:18 and REAcq(2,1,1) scheduled at 075/22:50:40 both resulted in Fine Lock Back-up. 075/21:11z REAcq was successful. Observations possibly affected: WFPC 46 - 47 and 50, Proposal ID# 11986. COMPLETED OPS REQUEST: (None) COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None) *********************** SCHEDULED***** SUCCESSFUL FGS GSAcq************** 05***************** 05 FGS REAcq************** 09***************** 09 OBAD with Maneuver **** 28***************** 28 SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None) |
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