Hubble Space Telescope Daily Report #3132 – 6 Jun 2002

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE

DAILY REPORT # 3132

PERIOD COVERED: DOY 157: 0000Z (UTC) 06/05/02 – 0000Z (UTC) 06/06/02

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED AND ACCOMPLISHED:

NICMOS 8790

NICMOS Post-SAA calibration – CR Persistence Part 1.

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.

STIS/CCD 8902

Dark Monitor-Part 2.

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to monitor the darks.

STIS/CCD 8904

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 in order
to build up high-S/N superbiases and track the evolution of hot columns.

WFPC2 8938

WFPC2 CYCLE 9 SUPPLEMENTAL DARKS pt3/3.

characterizing the evolution of hot pixels.

ACS/WFC/HRC 8947

Weekly Test.

noise, the development of hot pixels and test for any source of noise in
ACS CCD
detectors. This program will be executed at least once a day for the entire
lifetime of ACS.

STIS/CCD 9074

The Origin and Physics of Gamma-Ray Bursts.

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to make observations
that will provide the most stringent tests yet performed of the hypothesis that
GRBs are powered by the collapse of massive stars. STIS CCD spectroscopy
will be
used to detect broad atomic features of supernovae underlying GRB optical
transients, at flux levels more than a factor of three fainter than SN 1998bw.

ACS/WFC/HRC 9075

Cosmological Parameters from Type Ia Supernovae at High Redshift.

{SNe Ia} that will be of long lasting value as a record of the expansion
history
of the universe.

STIS/CCD 9077

Survey of the LMC Planetary Nebulae.

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to perform a snapshot
survey of all known LMC planetary nebulae {PNe} in order to study the
co-evolution of the nebulae and their central stars, and to probe the chemical
enrichment history of the LMC.

STIS/CCD/MA2 9105

Determination of the Distances and Masses of 3 Galactic Cepheids.

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD and MA2) was used to continue a
successful observing strategy which enabled the proposers to accurately measure
angular separations < 10^-2'' with the FOC for binaries with Cepheid primaries and main sequence B or A star secondaries {our accuracy should improve to ~10^-3'' with STIS}. Once measurements are available at two carefully selected phases and these are combined with spectroscopic orbits, the angular information will enable the masses and distances for the binaries to be determined from Newton's laws and Euclidean geometry. The distances determinations amount to bypassing two rungs of the cosmic distance ladder: the moving-cluster distance to the Hyades and main sequence fitting of clusters containing Cepheids. The mass determinations will provide the first direct dynamical mass measurements for Cepheids, providing sorely needed quantitative information on this poorly understood stage of massive star evolution.

STIS/MA1/MA2 9151

UV Snapshot Observation of Nearby Star Forming Galaxies.

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (MA1 and MA2) was used to obtain FUV
and NUV images of nearby emission- line galaxies with existing star-formation
rate {SFR} measurements from their HAlpha flux. Recently, the use of the UV
flux
as a measure of SFR has gained much popularity for estimating SFRs at different
cosmic epochs. However, the SFR estimated from UV flux could be greatly biased
due to dust extinction. The KPNO International Spectroscopic Survey {KISS}
provides a large sample of nearby HAlpha-selected starforming galaxies for
which
rich optical spectra are available for measuring metallicity and dust
extinction
through line ratios. By observing a subset of nearby emission-line galaxies in
the KISS sample with the STIS FUV and NUV MAMA, a direct comparison between UV
and Halpha SFR estimates will be possible. This will allow us to understand the
effect of dust extinction on UV flux for star- forming galaxies over a wide
range of HAlpha luminosity, metallicity absolute magnitude, and B-V color . A
rough dust extinction curve will be constructed for such objects, making it
possible to test plausible dust extinction curves used in previous SFR studies
of the distant universe. Also, high-resolution UV images will allow us to
search
for plausible local counterparts to high redshift galaxies whose rest-frame UV
morphology is available from existing optical HST data.

FGS/1 9168

The Distances to AM CVn Stars.

Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) #1R was used to determine the parallaxes and proper
motions of the five brightest of the seven known AM CVn systems. AM CVn systems
are binaries where mass is transferred from a completely hydrogen-deficient,
degenerate mass donor to a white dwarf primary through a helium accretion disk.
A better understanding of these systems is crucial for a number of reasons: (1)
to study the late stages of binary evolution, (2) to study the effect of
chemical composition on the physics of accretion discs, (3) to estimate their
contribution to the Supernovae Ia rate, and (4) to estimate their contribution
to the gravitational radiation background.

STIS/CCD 9176

LMC Eclipsing Binaries with Cepheid Components: The Key to the Extragalactic
Distance Scale.

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to determine the
distance to the LMC and to observe the Cepheid P-L that form the backbone
of the
Cosmic Distance Scale and the determination of H_degrees. Unfortunately, in
spite of concerted efforts of many investigators, the zero point of the Cepheid
P-L law and the LMC distance remain controversial and uncertain to ~10-15,
using
eclipsing binaries {EBs} as “standard candles” to include two recently
discovered LMC eclipsing binaries {EBs} with Cepheid components. These
observations of these extraordinary systems hold the key to determining
simultaneously the Cepheid P-L zero point and the LMC distance, and to
provide a
direct test of the Baade-Wesselink parallax method.

NICMOS 9269

NICMOS Parallel Thermal Background

NICMOS Camera 3 pure parallel exposures in the F222M filter will be
obtained for
the entire duration of SMOV to establish the stability of the
HST+NCS+Instrument
thermal emission.

STIS/CCD 9317

Pure Parallel Imaging Program: Cycle 10.

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to perform the default
archival pure parallel program for STIS during cycle 10.

WF/PC-2 9318

POMS Test Proposal: WFII Parallel Archive Proposal Continuation.

The WF/PC-2 was used to perform the generic target version of the WFPC2
Archival
Pure Parallel program. The program was used to take parallel images of random
areas of the sky, following the recommendations of the Parallels Working
Group.

ACS/CAL 9558

ACS weekly Test

This program consists of basic tests to monitor, the read noise, the
development
of hot pixels and test for any source of noise in ACS CCD detectors. This
programme will be executed once a day for the entire lifetime of ACS.

ACS/WFC 9575

Default {Archival} Pure Parallel Program.

The Advanced Camera for Surveys (WFC) was used to test ACS pure parallels in
POMS.

FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:

HSTARs:

8680 GSACQ(3,2,3) search radius limit exceeded, 2nd try successful @
157/09:00:00z
GSACQ(3,2,3) beginning at 08:59:10 had a search radius limit
exceeded flag at
09:03:16,second try was successful in reaching Fine Lock and
Science Init., no
observations affected. 486 Status Buffer message A05 was received.

8681 CORE login failure on the B string @ 157/17:30:00z

COMPLETED OPS REQs:

16780-0 RMGA Calibration for June 2002 @ 157/1524z

16783-3 NICMOS MEB Temperature Limit Updates @ 157/1655z

16784-0 On-Board NICMOS Suspend Sequence Patch @ 157/1657z

16785-1 NICMOS Gain Table Updates @ 157/1851z

OPS NOTES EXECUTED:

900-1 Command Problem

910-2 SI Console response to MCE Resets after FSW 4.8 is activated

                    SCHEDULED     SUCCESSFUL    FAILURE TIMES

FGS GSacq              7                7

FGS REacq              9                9

FHST Update           17               17

LOSS of LOCK         None

1. ESB code a05 is “FGS Coarse Track failed – Search Radius Limit exceeded”
2. 32K Engineering data loss due to STGT equipment failure 158 / 06:21:11
06:28:26z. (Reference DR # 44490).

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: None