Hubble Space Telescope Daily Report #2749 11/14/00
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE
DAILY REPORT #2749
PERIOD COVERED: 0000Z (UTC) 11/13/00 – 0000Z (UTC) 11/14/00
Daily Status Report as of 319/0000Z
1.0 OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED AND ACCOMPLISHED:
1.1 Completed Three Sets of WF/PC-2 8826 (Cycle 9 Supplemental Darks pt 1)
The WF/PC-2 was used to perform a T dark calibration program that obtains three dark frames every day in order to provide data for monitoring and characterizing the evolution of hot pixels. There were no reported anomalies.
1.2 Completed STIS/CCD/MA1 8279 (Cataclysmic Variable Disk Winds: A High Time and Spectral Resolution Study of Flow Inhomogeneity)
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD and MA1) was used to observe disks and disk winds that are found in many astrophysical settings. The proposal completed nominally.
1.3 Completed WF/PC-2 8815 (Cycle 9 Earth Flats)
The WF/PC-2 was used to monitor flatfield stability. This proposal obtains sequences of Earth streak flats to construct high quality flat fields for the WF/PC-2 filter set. These flat fields will allow mapping of the OTA illumination pattern and will be used in conjunction with previous internal and external flats to generate new pipeline superflats. The proposal completed nominally.
1.4 Completed WF/PC-2 8812 (Cycle 9 Internal Monitor)
The WF/PC-2 was used to obtain routine internal monitors for WFPC2 in order 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 {gain 7 and gain 15}, a test for quantum efficiency in the CCDs, and a monitor for possible buildup of contaminants on the CCD windows. There were no reported problems.
1.5 Completed STIS/CCD/MA1 8691 (Calibrating the Cosmic Meter Stick: The Distance to the LMC Using Eclipsing Binaries)
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD and MA1) was used to measure the LMC distance which is crucial for the calibration of the Cosmic Distance Scale. The observations completed with no reported problems.
1.6 Completed WF/PC-2 8059 (POMS Test Proposal: Targeted Parallel Archive Proposal)
The WF/PC-2 was used to observe the parallel opportunities available in the neighborhood of bright galaxies are treated in a slightly different way from the normal pure parallels. Local Group galaxies offer the opportunity for a closer look at young stellar
populations. Narrow-band images in F656N can be used both to identify young stars via their emission lines, and to map the gas distribution in star-forming regions. The observations completed nominally.
1.7 Completed STIC/CCD/MA1 8633 (The Physical Parameters of the Hottest, Most Luminous Stars as a Function of Metallicity)
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD and MA1) was used to obtain higher spatial resolution data on the H Alpha line for six of our stars for which nebular contamination is significant even with long-slit subtraction in our ground- based data. There were no reported problems.
1.8 Completed WF/PC-2 8893 (Decon Visits Associated with Nov 1 2000 WFPC2 Safing)
The WF/PC-2 was used to perform decon and post-decon standard observations after WF/PC-2 is brought out of safemode { Entered safemode on Nov 1 2000.}
1.9 Completed Two Sets of STIS/CCD 8837 (CCD Dark Monitor-Part 1)
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to monitor the darks. The proposal completed with no reported problems.
1.10 Completed STIS/MA1 8561 (The Ionizing Flux from Star-Forming Galaxies)
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (MA1) was used to measure the meaningful upper limits on the amount of ionizing radiation from galaxies in the current epoch. The proposal completed nominally.
1.11 Completed Five Sets of WF/PC-2 8811 (Cycle 9 Standard Darks)
The WF/PC-2 was used to obtain 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. The proposal completed with no reported problems.
1.12 Completed STIS/CCD 8838 (Bias Monitor – Part 1)
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 nominally.
1.13 Completed WF/PC-2/STIS/CCD 8641 (Testing the Accelerating Universe)
The WF/PC-2 and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) were used to observe Type Ia supernovae which provide evidence for an accelerating universe: an extraordinary result that needs to be rigorously tested. The observations completed with no reported problems.
1.14 Completed STIS/CCD 8580 (Pre-Cassini/Huygens Studies of Titan’s Surface, Troposphere and Stratosphere)
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to observe Titan, Saturn’s largest satellite. Titan has an opaque atmosphere in UV and visible wavelengths due to aerosols and methane gas. This proposal performs a data-dense suite of observations to {a} map the
three-dimensional distribution of methane and aerosols in Titan’s troposphere and stratosphere with the possibility of detecting moving weather patterns, {b} provide a history of the distribution of haze in preparation for Cassini and Huygens observations, and {c} map Titan’s surface albedo with unprecendented spatial resolution and
signal/noise. There were no reported problems.
1.15 Completed WF/PC-2 8632 (A UV Atlas of Nearby Galaxies)
The WF/PC-2 was used to perform a snapshot survey of local galaxies at UV wavelengths with the F300W filter. The aim of the project is to build a reference UV Atlas of normal galaxies, whose optical images are well known, with the highest possible degree of information, covering all the morphological types and luminosity classes. The proposal completed normally.
1.16 Completed Two Sets of STIS/CCD 8562 (Probing the Large Scale Structure: Cosmic Shear Observations)
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to probe the distortion of light bundles from distant galaxies, looking at the statistical properties of the intervening inhomogeneous {dark} matter distribution. The proposal completed nominally.
1.17 Completed WF/PC-2 8243 (SINS: The Supernova Intensive Study – Cycle 8)
The WF/PC-2 was used to make observations of supernova
SN1998S. Supernovae reveal the last stages of stellar evolution, create the chemical history of the Universe, energize the interstellar gas, and occupy the center of attention for the extragalactic distance scale and cosmology. A wavelength calibration image was also taken. The observations were completed as planned, and no problems were reported.
1.18 Completed Two Sets of STIS/CCD 7912 (STIS Parallel Archive Proposal – Nearby Galaxies – Imaging and Spectroscopy)
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to make parallel observations of nearby galaxies. This survey will be useful to study the star formation histories, chemical evolution, and distances to these galaxies. These data will be placed immediately into the Hubble Data Archive. The observations were completed as scheduled, and no problems were reported.
2.0 FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:
2.1 Guide Star Acquisitions:
Scheduled Acquisitions: 6
Successful: 6
Scheduled Re-acquisitions: 6
Successful: 6
2.2 FHST Updates:
Scheduled: 15
Successful: 15
2.3 Operations Notes:
Using ROP SR-1A, the SSR EDAC error counter was cleared on three occasions.
The engineering status buffer limits were adjusted at 318/1352Z per ROP DF-18A.
Per ROP SR-8A, SSR engineering continuous record was commanded at 318/1633Z. It was commanded off at 318/2039Z.
As directed by ROP SR-9A, the TRI module was configured at 318/2046Z.
3.0 SIGNIFICANT FORTHCOMING EVENTS:
Continuation of normal science observations and calibrations.
