Status Report

Hubble Space Telescope Daily Report #2810 16 Feb 2001

By SpaceRef Editor
February 16, 2001
Filed under ,

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE

DAILY REPORT #2810

PERIOD COVERED: 0000Z (UTC) 02/15/01 – 0000Z (UTC) 02/16/01

Daily Status Report as of 047/0000Z

1.0 OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED AND ACCOMPLISHED:

1.1 Completed Four Sets of WF/PC-2 8827 (Cycle 9 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 proposal completed nominally.

1.2 Completed STIS/CCD/MA1 8622 (The Interstellar Isotopic Ratio of
Boron toward Omicron Persei and Nearby Sight Lines)

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD and MA1) was used to
determine the isotopic ratio 11B/10B for diffuse interstellar material
along lines of sight to o Persei, 40 Persei, Zeta Persei, and X Persei that
pass close to the star- forming region IC 348. The proposal completed
nominally.

1.3 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.

1.4 Completed Three 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.

1.5 Completed STIS/CCD/MA1 8590 (UV Imaging and Spectroscopy of
Luminous Blue Compact Galaxies from z=0 to z=1)

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD and MA1) was used to
observe two well-defined samples of low-mass starburst galaxies, one in the
local universe {z<0.1} and another at intermediate redshifts {0.2 < z < 0.7}. Both samples show optical sizes, morphologies, emission line widths, and luminosities comparable to those of LBGs at z=3, and are therefore probably the best local analogs and testbeds for further study of LBGs. Our main goals are to: {1} explore the morphologies, surface brightness distributions, and half-light radii of nearby starforming galaxies in the FUV, near Ly-alpha; {2} search for systematic differences among UV, optical, and near-IR morphologies and structural parameters; {3} investigate the intrinsic emission and absorption spectra near Ly-alpha of starbursting dwarf galaxies, with special attention to Ly- alpha profiles and interstellar and stellar photospheric absorption from Si II, O I, C II, Si IV, and C IV; {4} measure their FUV-optical colors and dust extinction properties; and {5} test the hypothesis that low-mass starbursts are the local counterparts of LBGs. The observation completed normally.

1.6 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.

1.7 Completed STIS/CCD/MA2 8770 (The Nucleosynthesis of Boron –
Benchmarks for the Galactic Disk)

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD and MA2) was used to
determine boron (B) abundance. In spite of several HST cycles of B
abundance determinations, we do not know the true, ambient, present-day
abundance of B. Only two stars {with undepleted Li and Be} have been
observed to derive the Population I true B abundance. Past cycles have
focused on {1} halo stars with low metallicity and {2} solar-type stars
with Li and/or Be deficiencies. In this proposal, the stellar abundances
of B will be determined, measured from the B I 2497 Angstrom line from STIS
echelle spectra, of main sequence F-G stars that have retained their full
initial abundances of boron. Our target stars are those for which
ground-based observations show that beryllium is undepleted. These new
abundances will map evolution of the B abundance in the Galactic disk in
the metallicity range from one-third solar up to solar. Then the B, and
previously determined Li and Be abundances, will be used to improve
understanding of the nucleosynthesis of B. There were 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 8776 (Absolute Proper Motions of Nearby Dwarf
Spheroidal Galaxies)

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to measure
precise absolute proper motions for four dwarf spheroidal satellites of the
Milky Way using spectroscopically-confirmed background QSOs to define a
zero- velocity reference frame. No anomalous activity was reported.

1.10 Completed Two Sets of 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.

1.11 Completed WF/PC-2 8598 (Snapshot Survey of Extended OIIl Lambda
5007Angstrom Emission in Seyfert Galaxies)

The WF/PC-2 was used for a snapshot survey of narrow band OIII
Lambda 5007Angstrom images for a well defined sample of 88 Seyfert galaxies
{29 Seyfert 1s and 59 Seyfert 2s}, 18 of which already have data in the
archive, selected from a mostly isotropic property, the 60Mum flux. These
data will be used: 1} to determine the origin of the misalignment between
the accretion disk axis and the host galaxy plane axis, which can be due to
mergers with other galaxies, or by the self induced radiation warping; 2}
to compare the size and shape of the Narrow Line Regions (NLR) of Seyfert
1s and Seyfert 2s, and to study the frequency of conically shaped NLR in
Seyfert galaxies, which are usually unresolved from ground-based
observations; and 3} estimate the importance of shocks to the ionization of
the NLR. The observations completed with no reported problems.

1.12 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.

1.13 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.

1.14 Completed WF/PC-2 8600 (Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy Snapshot Survey III)

The WF/PC-2 was used to extend our V and I snapshot survey of
nearby dwarf elliptical {dE} galaxies to include a sample of 30 bright dE
with significant globular cluster {GC} populations. There were no reported
problems.

1.15 Completed WF/PC-2 8599 (A Census of Nuclear Star Clusters in
Late-Type Spiral Galaxies)

The WF/PC-2 was used to conduct an I-band snapshot survey of a
well-defined sample of nearby, face-on spiral galaxies of type Scd or
later. The proposal completed nominally.

1.16 Completed STIS/CCD/MA1/MA2 8691 (Calibrating the Cosmic Meter
Stick: The Distance to the LMC Using Eclipsing Binaries)

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD, MA1, and MA2) 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.

2.0 FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:

2.1 Guide Star Acquisitions:

Scheduled Acquisitions: 6

Successful: 6

Scheduled Re-acquisitions: 9

Successful: 9

2.2 FHST Updates:

Scheduled: 14

Successful: 14

2.3 Operations Notes:

Using ROP SR-1A, the SSR EDAC error counter was cleared four times.

At 046/1410Z, the EPS was restored to its nominal configuration
after the completion of its high sun-time configuration per an operations
request.

A TTR was written for a required re-transmit during the uplink of a
command load at 047/071946Z.

ROP DF-18A was used to adjust the engineering status buffer limits
at 047/0730Z.

3.0 SIGNIFICANT FORTHCOMING EVENTS:

Continuation of normal science observations and calibrations.

SpaceRef staff editor.