Status Report

Hubble Space Telescope Daily Report #2849 – 12 Apr 2001

By SpaceRef Editor

April 12, 2001

Filed under Hubble Space Telescope, Space Telescope Science Institute, US

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE

DAILY REPORT #2849

PERIOD COVERED: 0000Z (UTC) 04/11/01 – 0000Z (UTC) 04/12/01

Daily Status Report as of 102/0000Z

1.0 OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED AND ACCOMPLISHED:

1.1 Completed STIS/CCD 8864 (CCD Dark Monitor-Part 2)

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to monitor
the darks for the CCD. The proposal completed nominally.

1.2 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.

1.3 Completed Three 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.

1.4 Completed STIS/CCD/MA2 8569 (A New Survey for Low-Redshift Damped
Lyman-Alpha Lines in QSO MgII Systems)

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD and MA2) 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.

1.5 Completed Eight Sets of WF/PC-2 9244 (POMS Test Proposal: WFII
Parallel Archive Proposal Continuation)

The WF/PC-2 was used to perform a generic target version of the
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 observations completed with no anomalous
activity.

1.6 Completed STIS/MA1 8572 (Identifying Normal Galaxies at 1.3 < z < 2.5)

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (MA1) was used to perform
studies of faint, distant galaxies. It is now possible to observe hundreds
of galaxies out to z=1 and in the range 3 < z < 4.5, yet the redshift range 1 < z <3 remains largely unexplored. No problems were noted.

1.7 Completed STIS/CCD 8864 (CCD Dark Monitor-Part 2)

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to monitor
the darks for the CCD. The proposal completed nominally.

1.8 Completed Two Sets of STIS/CCD/MA2 8711 (C/O Abundance Ratios
Across WCL Planetary Nebulae With Strong PAH And Crystalline Silicate Emission)

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD and MA2) was used to
measure the required high angular resolution across compact nebulae for the
crucial abundance-diagnostic lines of C ii 2326 Angstrom and O ii 2470
Angstrom. ISO has discovered cool O-rich crystalline silicate and water-
ice emission in the far-IR spectra of several planetary nebulae {PNe} which
show very strong hot PAH {polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, carbon-rich}
emission bands in their near- and mid-IR spectra. All of these PNe are
young and compact and of low-ionization, and have cool H-deficient Wolf-
Rayet central stars. The correlation with carbon-rich WCL Wolf-Rayet
central stars suggests that the phenomenon is associated with a recent
transition from an O-rich to a C-rich phase by the evolving objects,
following the exposure of 3rd dredge-up enriched material. For these
nebulae, the gas-phase C/O ratios {two of the nebulae have the largest C/O
ratios known} are strongly correlated with the PAH feature strength. The
unexpected discovery of cool oxygen-rich particles around them suggests
that strong C/O abundance gradients may be present in the nebulae. The
observations completed nominally.

1.9 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.

1.10 Completed Nine Sets of STIS/CCD 9248 (Probing the Large Scale
Structure: Cosmic Shear Observations)

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to measure
the distortion of light bundles from distant galaxies that probe the
statistical properties of the intervening inhomogeneous {dark} matter
distribution. Its tidal gravitational field distorts the observable image
shapes thereby causing a coherent ellipticity pattern {Cosmic Shear}. The
observations completed nominally.

1.11 Completed WF/PC-2 8677 (Extragalactic Novae: the Maximum
Magnitude – Rate of Decline Relation in NGC 4472)

The WF/PC-2 was used to accomplish two goals: {1} to provide the
first homogeneous observational constraints on theoretical models for novae
outbursts; and {2} to assess the reliability of novae as standard candles
by using WFPC2 to collect well sampled light curves for 20-50 novae in the
supergiant elliptical galaxy NGC 4472, the brightest galaxy within 30
Mpc. Both the length of the observing window and the temporal sampling of
the observations are specifically designed to ensure that the novae peak
magnitudes and decline rates are measured accurately. These data will be
used to construct the first `Maximum Magnitude versus Rate of Decline’
{MMRD} relation for a galaxy beyond the Local Group. This relation is not
only a potentially powerful standard candle, but its shape and dispersion
are directly linked to physical parameters which govern the physics of
novae outbursts such as the white dwarf mass, temperature and mass
accretion rate. The proposal completed with no reported problems.

1.12 Completed Three Sets of FGS/1R 8727 (Ultra-High Resolution Studies
Of Agns III: Nuclear Extent And The SIM Astrometric Grid)

Fine Guidance Sensor #1R was used to perform a follow-up to a pilot
project (which used the original Fine Guidance Sensor astrometer {FGS3}) to
study optical extent of several AGN. Using the significantly enhanced
performance of the new FGS1R, two high S-N AGN from our earlier sample,
probing the broad line region at 10mas resolution, will be
re-observed. The observations completed with no reported problems.

1.13 Completed STIS/CCD 8865 (Bias Monitor-Part 2)

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 anomalous activity.

1.14 Completed WF/PC-2 8719 (A Continuation Of A Snapshot Survey Of X-
Ray Selected Central Cluster Galaxies0

The WF/PC-2 was used to perform snapshot images of a representative
subset of the central cluster galaxies from an X-ray selected cluster
sample that would provide important constraints on the formation and
evolution of dust in cluster cores that cannot be obtained from
ground-based observations. The observations completed as planned.

1.15 Completed WF/PC-2 8773 (Expansion Parallax Distances to Planetary
Nebulae)

The WF/PC-2 was used to observe planetary nebulae {PNe} for which
the lack of reliable distances is especially troubling. Acquired by
generalized statistical methods in all but a handful of cases, individual
PNe distances are often uncertain by factors of two or more. The
observations completed nominally.

1.16 Completed WF/PC-2 8602 (A Snapshot Survey of the Sites of Recent,
Nearby Supernovae)

The WF/PC-2 was used to conduct a snapshot survey in V and I of the
sites of the nearby SNe, which have precisely known positions, to obtain
high-resolution information on their local environment. The proposal
completed with no reported problems.

1.17 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.

1.18 Completed STIS/CCD/MA1 8606 (Determining the Nature of the
Variable Absorption in AGN: Monitoring NGC 3783 with HST And Chandra)

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD and MA1) was used to
investigate Seyfert 1 galaxies, many of which show intrinsic UV absorption
lines, characterized by high moderate widths, significant outflow
velocities, and variability on time scales as small as days. Seyferts with
UV absorption also show variable X-ray “warm absorbers”, characterized by
O VII and O VIII absorption edges, which suggests a common
origin. Variability monitoring is the key to understanding the absorbers,
by providing their radial locations, densities, and evolution in
ionization, column density, velocity, and coverage of the inner active
nucleus. The proposal completed with no problems.

2.0 FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:

2.1 Guide Star Acquisitions:

Scheduled Acquisitions: 14

Successful: 14

Scheduled Re-acquisitions: 2

Successful: 2

2.2 FHST Updates:

Scheduled: 30

Successful: 30

2.3 Operations Notes:

The SSR EDAC error counter was cleared four times, using ROP SR-1A.

The engineering status buffer limits were adjusted four times as
directed by ROP DF-18A.