Hubble Space Telescope Daily Report #2848 11 Apr 2001
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE
DAILY REPORT #2848
PERIOD COVERED: 0000Z (UTC) 04/10/01 – 0000Z (UTC) 04/11/01
Daily Status Report as of 101/0000Z
1.0 OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED AND ACCOMPLISHED:
1.1 Completed Two Sets of WF/PC-2 8827 (Cycle 9 Supplemental Darks pt2/3)
The WF/PC-2 was used to obtain three dark frames every day to
provide data for monitoring and characterizing the evolution of hot
pixels. The proposal completed nominally.
1.2 Completed STIS/CCD/MA2 8621 (The Galactic Abundance Gradients of
Boron and Iron)
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD and MA2) was used to
provide the first measurement of the Galactic abundance gradients for Boron
and Iron. Boron abundances were obtained for 5 B-type stars {with
Galactocentric distances between 4-15 kpc} from the BIII 2066 Angstrom
line. Optical spectroscopy of these {and other B-type} stars has yielded
abundance gradients of -0.07 dex/kpc for N & the Alpha-elements {O, Mg,
Si}. Determination of Boron abundances require UV spectra. The proposal
completed nominally.
1.3 Completed Four Sets of WF/PC-2 9244 (POMS Test Proposal: WFII
Parallel Archive Proposal Continuation)
The WF/PC-2 was used to perform a generic target version of the
Archival Pure Parallel program. The program will be used to take parallel
images of random areas of the sky, following the recommendations of the
Parallels Working Group. The observations completed with no anomalous
activity.
1.4 Completed STIS/CCD 8864 (CCD Dark Monitor-Part 2)
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to monitor
the darks for the CCD. The proposal completed nominally.
1.5 Completed STIS/CCD 8639 (The Origin of Gaseous Outflows in Active
Galaxies)
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to obtain
images, previously observed by WF/PC-2, of the ionized gas in the Circinus
galaxy, a nearby Seyfert 2. The previous images reveal that the nuclear
high excitation gas is “V-shaped” and represents the inner part of the
“ionization cone” seen previously on much larger scales in ground-based
observations. These images suggest that the observed emission lies along
the boundary of a conical structure, a situation which has probably
originated through mass entrainment of dense gas in the galaxy disk along
the edges of a low density outflow. The proposers wish to obtain long slit
observations of this structure. The goals are: 1} to confirm or reject
this picture kinematically; 2} investigate how gas is entrained into the
outflow from the dense ism in the galaxy disk in the inner region of the
outflow at unprecedented spatial resolution for a Seyfert galaxy {our
resolution of 1 pc is comparable to or smaller than the expected radius of
the inner edge of the putative blocking “torus”}; 3} distinguish between
collimation of ionization photons or of gaseous outflow as the origin of
the “ionization cone”; and 4} attempt to measure the mass of the nuclear
black hole using a long slit spectrum of the disk HII regions. The
observations completed with no reported problems.
1.6 Completed STIS/CCD 8865 (Bias Monitor-Part 2)
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to monitor
the bias in the 1×1, 1×2, 2×1, and 2×2 bin settings at gain=1, and 1×1 at
gain = 4, to build up high-S/N superbiases and track the evolution of hot
columns. The proposal completed with no anomalous activity.
1.7 Completed STIS/CCD 8591 (The Smallest Nuclear Black Holes)
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to observe
small nuclear black holes which are the last major unexplored part of BH
parameter space, searching for the smallest BHs that HST can possibly
find. The proposal completed with no reported anomalies.
1.8 Completed WF/PC-2 8883 (POMS Test Proposal: WFII Backup Parallel
Archive Proposal II)
The WF/PC-2 was used to complete a POMS test proposal designed to
simulate scientific plans. There were no reported problems.
1.9 Completed STIS/CCD 8170 (Kinematics of the Young Star Clusters and
the Gas in the Antennae Galaxies)
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to follow
up on the previous discovery of over 1000 young star clusters in “The
Antennae” {NGC 4038} by obtaining long-slit and slitless spectra of a
representative sample of clusters with STIS. These young clusters have the
luminosities, colors, and radii expected of young globular clusters and
must have formed during the ongoing merger. Because of their proximity and
early stage of merging, the disks of NGC 4038 form an ideal laboratory to
study cluster formation in progress. The observations completed nominally.
1.10 Completed WF/PC-2 8563 (Determining the Duplicity of Nearby T
Dwarfs {Methane Brown Dwarfs})
The WF/PC-2 was used to investigate the binary fraction of T-type
dwarfs {methane brown dwarfs} which is crucial to accurate determinations
of the T-dwarf space density and mass function, especially since equal-
magnitude binaries can introduce significant biases in photometric distance
estimates. The proposal completed nominally.
1.11 Completed Six Sets of STIS/CCD 9248 (Probing the Large Scale
Structure: Cosmic Shear Observations)
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to measure
the distortion of light bundles from distant galaxies that probe the
statistical properties of the intervening inhomogeneous {dark} matter
distribution. Its tidal gravitational field distorts the observable image
shapes thereby causing a coherent ellipticity pattern {Cosmic Shear}. The
observations completed nominally.
1.12 Completed WF/PC-2/STIS/CCD 8568 (A Seminal Spectroscopic and
Imagery Investigation of the Brightest Wolf-Rayet Shell Nebula: NGC 6888)
The WF/PC-2 (for imagery) and the Space Telescope Imaging
Spectrograph (CCD for UV-optical-NIR spectroscopy of several regions in the
brightest Wolf-Rayet Shell) were used to observe Nebula {WRSN}, NGC
6888. The physical conditions in the wind-driven and/or stellar ejected
plasma {temperature, density, ionization, and composition} of WRSN, which
are dominated by strong stellar winds from hot massive stars in an advanced
state of evolution, often involve emission from both shock-ionized and
photoionized gas in close proximity. These new observations will comprise
the first combined spectroscopy and imagery of a WRSN at a resolution
sufficient to separate and individually analyze these two emission
regions. The proposal completed nominally with no reported problems.
1.13 Completed Two Sets of WF/PC-2 8816 (Cycle 9 UV Earthflats)
The WF/PC-2 was used to obtain sequences of Earth streak flats to
improve the quality of pipeline flat fields for the WFPC2 UV filter set and
in order to monitor flat field stability. There were no reported problems.
2.0 FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:
2.1 Guide Star Acquisitions:
Scheduled Acquisitions: 9
Successful: 9
Scheduled Re-acquisitions: 8
Successful: 8
2.2 FHST Updates:
Scheduled: 15
Successful: 15
2.3 Operations Notes:
The SSR EDAC error counter was cleared three times per ROP SR-1A.
Using ROP NS-3, the NSSC-1 status buffer was dumped at 100/1446Z.
3.0 SIGNIFICANT FORTHCOMING EVENTS:
Continuation of normal science observations and calibrations.
