Hubble Space Telescope Daily Report #2642 06/12/00
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE
DAILY REPORT #2642
PERIOD COVERED: 0000Z (UTC) 06/09/00 – 0000Z (UTC) 06/12/00
Daily Status Report as of 164/0000Z
1.0 OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED AND ACCOMPLISHED:
1.1 Completed Four Sets of STIS/CCD 8808 (POMS Test Proposal: STIS Non-Scripted Parallel Proposal Continuation III)
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to make non-scripted, parallel observations as part of a POMS test proposal. The observations completed with no anomalous activity.
1.2 Completed Three Sets of STIS/CCD 8439 (Bias Monitor-Part 2 C8)
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 reported problems.
1.3 Completed Two Sets of WF/PC-2 8460 (Cycle 8 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 observations completed with no reported problems.
1.4 Completed Five Sets of STIS/CCD 8437 (Dark Monitor-Part 2 C8)
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to monitor the darks. The proposal completed nominally.
1.5 Completed Two Sets of STIS/CCD 8796 (POMS Test Proposal: STIS Non-Scripted Parallel Proposal Continuation IV)
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used in the parallel mode to make some low galactic latitude archive observations. The observations were executed as scheduled, and no anomalies were noted.
1.6 Completed Three Sets of STIS/CCD 8202 (Bright Quasar Close Lensing Search)
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to make observations of HCLQ1633+3, HCLQ0041-4 and HCLQ1200-1 as part of a second generation survey to search for bright lensing quasars. With the restored PSF, new images will be considerably more sensitive to the presence of both close separation and faint lens components, and because STIS reaches two magnitudes fainter the PC, the new snapshot images will have much greater dynamic range. The observations were executed as scheduled, and no anomalies were noted.
1.7 Completed Two Sets of WF/PC-2 8346 (Cosmological Parameters from Type Ia Supernovae at High Redshift)
The WF/PC-2 was used to directly measure the cosmological parameters, Omega, Lambda, and thus the curvature, Omega_k, using Type Ia supernovae {SNe Ia} as calibrated standard candles. Observations of SNe Ia spanning a large redshift range are key to decoupling Omega and Lambda. The observations completed nominally.
1.8 Completed Five Sets of STIS/CCD 8260 (Searching for the Hydrogen Reionization Edge of the Universe at 5HST)
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to observe one of 36 parallel orbits {4–5 fields of 5–8 orbits each} to constrain the H Lyman-edge in emission that marks the transition from a neutral to a fully ionized IGM at a predicted zion~eq5–15. This edge is due to recombination from the H Lyman series and Lyman continuum, and can be used to constrain zion, one of the most important unknown quantities in large scale structure and cosmology. The proposal completed nominally.
1.9 Completed Two Sets of STIS/MA2 8426 (Cycle 8 MAMA Dark Measurements)
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (MA2) was used to make a routine Cycle-8 MAMA dark noise calibration measurement. This proposal will provide the primary means of checking on the health of the MAMA detectors. This is done through frequent monitoring of the background count rate. The observations were completed as planned, and no problems were reported.
1.10 Completed Four Sets of STIS/CCD/MA1/MA2 8265 (Reverberation Mapping of a Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxy)
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD, MA1 and MA2) was used to monitor the UV spectral variability of the narrow-line Seyfert 1 {NLS1} galaxy AKN 564 at 46 epochs in order to measure the size of the broad emission-line region via reverberation-mapping techniques. This measurement, and the virial mass estimate that follows from it, will provide a key test of NLS1 models and help determine the physical mechanism that underlies the principal component of AGN spectra, the Boroson–Green primary eigenvector. These observations will be undertaken in parallel with X-ray and ground-based optical observations that will allow us for the first time to explore the multiwavelength variability characteristics of this important subclass of active galactic nuclei. As described in 2.1 and HSTARs 7654 and 7655, the acquisitions for the first and third iterations of this proposal defaulted to fine lock backup on one FGS only, possibly affecting the observations during these iterations. Otherwise, the observations completed with no further reported problems.
1.11 Completed STIS/MA1/MA2 8311 (Moderate Redshift Analogs To Lyman-Break Galaxies?)
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (MA1 and MA2) was used to determine whether high luminosity galaxies selected using rest ultraviolet luminosity at low-to-moderate redshift {0.2<z<0.7, UV-selected Bright Galaxies are related to Lyman-Break galaxies at high redshift {3<z<5} selected by the drop-out technique. The observations completed with no reported problems.
1.12 Completed Four Sets of WF/PC-2 8805 (POMS Test Proposal: WFII Parallel Archive Proposal Continuation)
The WF/PC-2 was used to perform a 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 Parallels Working. The proposal completed with no reported problems.
1.13 Completed STIS/MA1 8433 (Angle Corrections for MAMA)
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (MA1) was used to run a test in order to provide incidence angle corrections for MAMA observations using non-concentric slits. The proposal completed with no reported problems.
1.14 Completed Two Sets of WF/PC-2 8698 (Identification of the Galaxy’s Missing Mass)
The WF/PC-2 was used to observe the nature of dark matter which is one of the key astrophysical questions of the day. The existence of dark matter and its dynamical dominance in the outer parts of our Galaxy and spiral galaxies with flat rotation curves is well established. The MACHO project has identified ~half of the Milky Way’s dark matter with stellar objects of ~0.5 M_sun, probably white dwarfs. But the location of the microlensing in the halo is disputed. Several have detected two candidate halo white dwarfs of L/L_sun ~ 10^-5 in the Hubble Deep Field with 25 +/- 5 mas/year proper motions. The observations completed with no reported problems.
1.15 Completed WF/PC-2/STIS/CCD 8697 (Stellar Populations in the Disk-Halo Interface of NGC 55)
The WF/PC-2 and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to investigate the disk-halo interface which is where the global effects of stellar feedback on the ISM are expected to be most
pronounced. Our deep ground-based emission–line images of the nearby, edge–on SBm galaxy NGC 55 provide a particularly spectacular example of this phenomenon. The observations completed with no anomalous activity.
1.16 Completed Four Sets of WF/PC-2 8461 (Cycle 8 Supplemental Darks pt3/3)
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.
1.17 Completed WF/PC-2 8249 (A Strong Lensing Survey of the Mass Distribution in X-ray Luminous Clusters)
The WF/PC-2 was used for a gravitational lensing survey of the central regions of 16 X-ray luminous clusters from a statistically complete sample. The observations completed with no problems.
1.18 Completed WF/PC-2 8181 (Resolving Sirius-like Binaries)
The WF/PC-2 was used to make observations of the star BETA-CRT in order to try and resolve these Sirius-like binary star systems. Subsequent determinations of the visual orbits of the resolved binaries with the HST will provide dynamical measurements of the white-dwarf masses. The observations were completed as scheduled, and no anomalies were reported.
1.19 Completed STIS/CCD/MA1 8103 (A Global Picture of White Dwarfs in Cataclysmic Variables)
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD and MA1) was used to make ultraviolet spectrographic observations of the white dwarf star that is located in the cataclysmic variable star system known as HV-VIR. The observations were executed as scheduled, and no problems were reported.
1.20 Completed STIS/CCD/MA1 8297 (The Physical State of the Starburst Outflow in NGC1705)
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD and MA1) was used to perform echelle M mode spectroscopy from 1200 Angstrom to 3000 Angstrom of the nearby starburst galaxy NGC1705 to probe the physical conditions in the starburst- driven galactic superwind. The proposal completed with no reported problems.
1.21 Completed STIS/CCD/MA1 8241 (A Snapshot Survey of Interstellar Absorption Lines)
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD and MA1) was used to make high resolution Echelle spectrographic observations of the standard ultraviolet star HD3175 as part of a snapshot survey of interstellar absorption lines. A wavelength calibration image was also taken. The observations were executed as scheduled, and no anomalies were noted.
1.22 Completed WF/PC-2 8654 (Confirmation of Black Hole, Planetary, and Binary Microlensing Events)
The WF/PC-2 was used to take images of five MACHO Project microlensing events in order to confirm our microlensing models which indicate that these events were caused by black holes and stars with extra-solar planets. The proposal completed nominally.
1.23 Completed WF/PC-2 8118 (Snapshot Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters0
The WF/PC-2 was used to make observations of crowded centers of globular clusters {GCs} which have produced intriguing discoveries of new phenomena, most of which are not understood theoretically. This is a continuation of a Cycle 7 snapshot proposal, to extend such work to a much larger portion of the Galactic GC system. The observations completed nominally, with no reported problems.
1.24 Completed STIS/CCD 8640 (A Public STIS Survey of the Host Galaxies of Gamma-Ray Bursts)
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to obtain high-resolution images of the fields containing gamma-ray burst with well-localized coordinates; i.e. the burst has been localized to within approximately one arcsecond. The goal of this survey is to obtain a uniform sample of images of the host galaxies of these bursts. There were no reported problems.
2.0 FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:
2.1 Guide Star Acquisitions:
Scheduled Acquisitions: 22
Successful: 22
The acquisition at 162/101236Z resulted in fine lock backup on FGS-3 only when the scan step limit was exceeded on FGS-2. HSTAR 7654 was written. The proposal detailed in 1.10 may have been affected.
Per HSTAR 7655, the acquisition at 163/115724Z defaulted to fine lock backup on FGS-3 only when the scan step limit was exceeded on FGS-2. The proposal described in 1.10 may have been affected.
At 164/034343Z, the acquisition defaulted to fine lock backup on FGS2 only when the scan step limit was exceeded on FGS-1. Three proposals, WF/PC-2 8805, WF/PC-2 8442 and STIS 8437, all appearing during the period of the next report, may have been affected.
Scheduled Re-acquisitions: 25
Successful: 25
2.2 FHST Updates:
Scheduled: 45
Successful: 45
2.3 Operations Notes:
Using ROP SR-1A, the SSR EDAC error counter was cleared twice.
Per an operations request, memory monitors were set-up at 161/1605Z in order to observe single bit errors.
Realtime operations transferred from the Building 3 Mission Operations Room to the Building 23 backup facility at 161/1630Z. Prime support continued to be conducted on CCS string "B".
An SI delayed error nulling maneuver was performed at 161/2053Z per ROP NS-8.
There was a PEPCO commercial power hit at 164/0135Z. There was no significant effect on operations either in Building 23 or in Buildings 3/14, although both lighting and the VDS were briefly out of service.
STIS EMC retries occurred at 163/132335Z and at 164/054219Z. In each case the STIS flight software error counter was reset as directed by ROP NS-12.
3.0 SIGNIFICANT FORTHCOMING EVENTS:
Continuation of normal science observations and calibrations.
/CAW
