Hubble Space Telescope Daily Report #2809 15 Feb 2001
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE
DAILY REPORT #2809
PERIOD COVERED: 0000Z (UTC) 02/14/01 – 0000Z (UTC) 02/15/01
Daily Status Report as of 046/0000Z
1.0 OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED AND ACCOMPLISHED:
1.1 Completed STIS/CCD/MA1 8157 (Molecular Hydrogen in the
Circumstellar Environments of T Tauri Stars)
The Space Telescope Imaging Telescope (CCD and MA1) was used to
probe the gaseous environments of low mass pre-main sequence stars by
studying the H_2 UV Lyman bands. Fluorescent H_2 Lyman band emission has
been detected, pumped by H I Lyman Alpha and Si IV, in 8 classical T Tauri
stars but not in 3 naked T Tauri stars. The observations will provide
insights into the spatial distribution of gas near classical T Tauri
stars. The proposal completed with no reported problems.
1.2 Completed Three 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 Six Sets of WF/PC-2 8816 (Cycle 9 UV Earthflats)
The WF/PC-2 was used to obtain sequences of Earth streak flats to
improve the quality of pipeline flat fields for the WFPC2 UV filter set and
in order to monitor flat field stability. There were no reported problems.
1.4 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.
1.5 Completed Two Sets of WF/PC-2 8683 (Imaging Of Brightest Cluster
Galaxies: The High End Of The Black Hole Mass Distribution)
The WF/PC-2 was used to make kinematic black hole detections in
galaxies to decide whether they indicate that the mass correlates with both
optical luminosity and radio power. The observation completed with no
reported problems.
1.6 Completed Four 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.
1.7 Completed WF/PC-2/STIS/CCD 8690 (The Central Region of NGC4696:
Manifestation of the Physics of Mergers?)
The WF/PC-2 and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) were
used to observe massive, dominant ellipticals with attendant emission-line
gas, dust and hot, heavy X–ray emitting coronae which lie at the very
centers of galaxy clusters. The physics of these complex, high pressure
regions remains controversial: Are cooling flows responsible? Do mergers
dominate, with massive accretion events triggering an array of
phenomena? Is the AGN crucial? A major impetus to understanding the
physics of these regions will come with Chandra. NGC4696 in the Centaurus
galaxy cluster is archetypal. WFPC2 images have shown a dramatic
bifurcation between gas and dust. T he nucleus itself is seen to be a
compact triple, with two blue components straddling a third red one. We
propose to obtain STIS long- slit spectra along a line-emission filament
and along a dust filament: The proposal completed with no reported problems.
1.8 Completed WF/PC-2 8645 (A Survey of Mid-UV Morphology of Nearby
Galaxies: Galaxy Structure and Faint Galaxy)
The WF/PC-2 was used to investigate the relation between star
formation and the global physical characteristics of galaxies to interpret
the morphologies of distant galaxies in terms of their evolutionary
status. The observations completed nominally.
1.9 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.
1.10 Completed Two Sets of 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.
2.0 FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:
2.1 Guide Star Acquisitions:
Scheduled Acquisitions: 10
Successful: 10
Scheduled Re-acquisitions: 5
Successful: 5
2.2 FHST Updates:
Scheduled: 23
Successful: 23
2.3 Operations Notes:
The SSR EDAC error counter was cleared thrice, using ROP SR-1A.
The SSR pointers were set at 045/1355Z as directed by ROP SR-3.
3.0 SIGNIFICANT FORTHCOMING EVENTS:
Continuation of normal science observations and calibrations.
