HST Daily Report # 3261
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE
DAILY REPORT # 3261
PERIOD COVERED: DOY 344
OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED
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.
ACS/WFC/HRC 9075
Cosmological Parameters from Type Ia Supernovae at High Redshift.
The Advanced Camera for Surveys (WFC and HRC) was used to obtain a Hubble
diagram of Type Ia supernovae {SNe Ia} that will be of long lasting value as
a
record of the expansion history of the universe.
ACS 9453
The Age of the Andromeda Halo
first time, we can resolve the old main sequence stars in the Andromeda
halo,
and thus directly determine the ages of the halo stars in a giant galaxy
other
than our own. As the nearest giant galaxy, Andromeda offers the best testing
ground for understanding galaxy formation and evolution. Resolution of its
halo
will tell us about its spread in age and metallicity, thus providing a
formation
history. Via extensive simulations, we demonstrate that we can unambiguously
characterize the halo population via a deep F606W/F814W color-magnitude
diagram
reaching below the main sequence turnoff. The data will distinguish whether
the
halo formed quickly or through protracted infall and merging episodes, and
would
detect even a few percent trace of intermediate age stars. Our field was
carefully chosen to meet two criteria: an optimal stellar density ensuring
adequate statistics while avoiding overcrowding, and the inclusion of an
Andromeda globular cluster matched to the peak halo metallicity. We also
propose
very brief observations in the same two bands of five Galactic globular
clusters
spanning a wide metallicity range, thus establishing population templates
in the
ACS photometric system that will be used to calibrate and interpret the
Andromeda data.
ACS 9463
Are OH/IR stars the youngest post-AGB stars? An ACS SNAPshot imaging survey
Essentially all well-characterized preplanetary nebulae {PPNs}– objects in
transition between the AGB and planetary nebula evolutionary phases – are
bipolar, whereas the mass-loss envelopes of AGB stars are strikingly
spherical.
In order to understand the processes leading to bipolar mass-ejection, we
need
to know at what stage of stellar evolution does bipolarity in the mass-loss
first manifest itself? We have recently hypothesized that most OH/IR stars
{evolved mass- losing stars with OH maser emission} are very young PPNe. We
propose an ACS/SNAPshot imaging survey of a large, morphologically unbiased
sample of these objects, selected using their IRAS 12-to-25micron colors.
Our
ground-based imaging study of OH/IR stars has revealed a few compact bipolar
objects, supporting our hypothesis. However since most objects remain
unresolved, HST observations are needed to determine how and when the
bipolar
geometry asserts itself. Our complementary program of interferometric
mapping of
the OH maser emission in our sources is yielding kinematic information with
spatial resolution comparable to that in the HST images. The HST/radio data
will
provide crucial input for theories of post-AGB stellar evolution. In
addition,
these data will also indicate whether the multiple concentric rings,
“searchlight beams”, and truncated equatorial disks recently discovered
with
HST in a few PPNs, are common or rare phenomena.
GO 9493
Revealing the nature of low luminosity radio-galaxies with imaging
polarimetry
HST imaging of low luminosity FR I radio-galaxies allowed us to isolate for
the
first time their optical nuclear emission from that of the host galaxy.
Fluxes
of these unresolved nuclear sources strongly correlate with those of the
radio-
cores, suggesting a common non-thermal origin. The picture which emerges is
that
these radio-galaxies differ in many fundamental aspects from the other
classes
of AGN as they might be lacking the substantial BLR, thermal disk emission
and
torii, usually associated to active nuclei, probably reflecting a
fundamentally
different accretion mode. On the other hand, these results support the
identification of FR I as the misoriented population of BL Lac objects. It
is
crucial at this stage to firmly establish the synchrotron origin of these
nuclear sources. A simple and direct test can be performed by measuring
their
polarization. In case of synchrotron emission we expect to detect
significant
nuclear polarization, as routinely measured in BL Lac objects, at level of
3 –
20 We thus propose to obtain imaging polarimetry of a sample formed by the 9
nearest FR I radio- galaxies.
WFPC2 9593
WFPC2 CYCLE 11 SUPPLEMENTAL DARKS pt1/3
This dark calibration program obtains 3 dark frames every day to provide
data
for monitoring and characterizing the evolution of hot pixels.
CAL/WF2 9597
Intflat Sweep, Visflat Sweep, and Filter Anomaly Check
No abstract available.
STIS 9605
CCD Dark Monitor-Part 1
Monitor the darks for the STIS CCD
STIS 9607
CCD Bias Monitor – Part 1
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.
STIS 9612
STIS CCD Hot Pixel Annealing Cycle 11
behavior before and after annealing and by searching for any window
contamination effects. In addition CTE performance is examined by looking
for
traps in a low signal level flat. Follows on from proposal 8906.
NICMOS 9642
High S/N Capability Characterization
We wish to characterize the high S/N capability for NICMOS grism
spectroscopy
analogous to experiments doing similar for STIS. With the grism and NIC 3 a
limiting factor will be undersampling coupled with minor guiding errors.
Either
very stable guiding and no dithering is preferred with resulting goal of
only a
differential measure for changes in spectra over time, or dithering to a
large
number of different offsets and hence averaging over undersampling effects
is
desired. S/N will be tested in both sum over wavelength and cross-dispersion
mode and for exposure to exposure and orbit to orbit for spectral fidelity
as
well. We adopt defocus using the PAM to minimize undersampling at the cost
of
lost spectral resolution. Only 0.1 pixel dithers are included to assist with
decorrelation of any residual intensity with guiding error induced changes.
ACS 9647
CCD Daily Monitor Part I
for any source of noise in ACS CCD detectors. This programme will be
executed
once a day for the entire lifetime of ACS.
WFPC2 9676
POMS Test Proposal: WFII parallel archive proposal
This is the generic target version of the WFPC2 Archival Pure Parallel
program.
The program will be used to take parallel images of random areas of the sky,
following the recommendations of the 2002 Parallels Working Group.
STIS 9692
STIS Pure Parallel Imaging Program: Cycle 10
This is the default archival pure parallel program for STIS during cycle 10.
NICMOS 9702
NICMOS Parallel Thermal Background
NICMOS Camera 2 pure parallel exposures in the F222M and F237M filters to
establish the stability of the HST+NCS+Instrument thermal emission. This
data
will be compared against the already available Camera 3 measurements in
F222M
which show an increased thermal background.
FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:
Significant Spacecraft Anomalies: (The following are preliminary reports of
potential non-nominal performance that will be investigated.) None
COMPLETED OPS REQs: None
OPS NOTES EXECUTED: None
SCHEDULED SUCCESSFUL FAILURE TIMES
FGS GSacq 7 7
FGS REacq 8 8
FHST Update 16 16
LOSS of LOCK
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: None
