Status Report

Hubble Space Telescope Daily Report #2755 11/22/00

By SpaceRef Editor
November 22, 2000
Filed under ,

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE
 
  DAILY REPORT #2755
 
PERIOD COVERED:  0000Z (UTC) 11/21/00 – 0000Z (UTC) 11/22/00
 
Daily Status Report as of 327/0000Z
 
1.0 OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED AND ACCOMPLISHED:
 
    1.1 Completed Two Sets of STIS/CCD/MA1/MA2 8423 (FASTEX — Faint Standard Extension)
 
        The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD, MA1 and MA2) was used to measure the fainter standard stars which are needed for the flux calibration of COS and for the prism modes on ACS.  The proposal completed with no outstanding problems.
 
    1.2 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 Group.  The proposal completed with no reported problems.
 
    1.3 Completed Two Sets of STIS/CCD 8631 (Bright Quasar Close Lensing Search II)
 
        The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to expand the Cycle 8 second generation HST snapshot survey of bright quasars, optimized to find lenses with component image separations < 1".  The observations completed nominally.
 
    1.4 Completed WF/PC-2 8269 (The Morphological Evolution of Field Galaxies)
 
        The WF/PC-2 was used to make observations of the near-infrared field galaxy CETUS-CENT in order to study its morphology.  The observations were completed as planned, and no anomalies were reported.
 
    1.5 Completed Three 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.
 
    1.6 Completed 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.
 
    1.7 Completed STIS/CCD 8333 (Pox 186: A Nearby Protogalaxy?)
 
        The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to investigate a blue compact dwarf galaxy {BCDG}, UPGREN69.  BCDGs typically consist of clusters of early-type stars embedded in older, evolved stellar populations similar in size and shape to normal dwarf
ellipticals.  However, deep ground-based CCD images of this BCDG reveal a very compact {~ 5" diameter} structure with no evidence of an underlying older population.  Optical spectroscopy of this object also indicates that a large number of Wolf-Rayet stars are present, which implies that a burst of star formation must have occurred very recently {<=sssim 10^7 years ago}.  It has thus been suggested that Pox 186 is a protogalaxy, forming its very first generation of stars.  The observations completed with no reported anomalies.
 
    1.8 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.
 
    1.9 Completed STIS/CCD/MA1 8569 (A New Survey for Low-Redshift Damped Lyman-Alpha Lines in QSO MgII Systems)
 
        The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD and MA1) was used to support studies which have shown that most of the observable neutral gas mass in the Universe resides in QSO damped LyAlpha {DLA} systems.  However, at low redshift , DLA can only be found by searching in the UV with HST.  By boot-strapping from the MgII statistics, we will be able to further improve the determination of the low- redshift statistical properties of DLA {their incidence and cosmological mass density} and open up new opportunities for studies at low redshift.  The observations completed nominally.
 
    1.10 Completed STIS/MA2 8843 (Cycle 9 MAMA Dark Measurements)
 
        The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (MA2) was used to perform the routine monitoring of the MAMA detector dark noise.  The proposal completed nominally.
 
    1.11 Completed STIS/CCD/MA2 8671 (Observations of a Magellanic Cloud Nova in Outburst)
 
        The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD and MA2) was used for a re-visit to target-of-opportunity observations of a classical nova in the Magellanic Clouds in the early stages of its outburst.  Nova outbursts are thermonuclear runaways triggered by accretion onto a white dwarf within a close binary system.  The proposal completed with no reported problems.
 
    1.12 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.
 
    1.13 Completed 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.
 
2.0 FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:
 
    2.1 Guide Star Acquisitions:
      Scheduled Acquisitions: 8
                Successful: 8
 
    Scheduled Re-acquisitions: 8
                Successful: 8
 
    2.2 FHST Updates:
                  Scheduled: 20
                Successful: 20
 
    2.3 Operations Notes:
 
        HST operations remains in the GSFC STOCC.  CCS String "B" is the prime string while String "C" is configured as the backup string.
 
        The correctable SSR EDAC errors were cleared three times, per ROP SR-1A.
 
        At 326/0315Z, the Bus C impedance flagged, for one telemetry sample, to a value of 37 milli-ohms, then returned to the nominal 22 milli-ohms.  Approximately two minutes later, the calculated impedance decreased to about 6 milli-ohms and remained there for five minutes, when it increased to about 12 milli-ohms.  It remained at that level for about three minutes, returning to 22 milli-ohms where it remains.  HSTAR 7974 was written for this occurrence.  HSTAR 7975 was written when the Battery 5 impedance limit went high at 326/0315Z for one telemetry sample.  The limit is 0.037; the anomalous value, 0.0371504..
 
        At 326/1917Z, the engineering status buffer limits were cleared, using ROP DF-18A.
 
3.0 SIGNIFICANT FORTHCOMING EVENTS:
 
        Continuation of normal science observations and calibrations.

SpaceRef staff editor.