Status Report

Hubble Space Telescope Daily Report #2863 – 2 May 2001

By SpaceRef Editor

May 2, 2001

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

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE

DAILY REPORT #2863

PERIOD COVERED: 0000Z (UTC) 05/01/01 – 0000Z (UTC) 05/02/01

Daily Status Report as of 122/0000Z

1.0 OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED AND ACCOMPLISHED:

The following scheduled proposals did not execute due to the acquisition
problems detailed in yesterday’s report and HSTAR 8196:

WF/PC-2 9244 (POMS Test Proposal: WFII Parallel Archive
Proposal Continuation)

FGS/1 8731 (A High Angular Resolution Survey of the Most
Massive Stars in the SMC)

STIS/CCD 8841 (Hot Pixel Annealing C9)

Two Sets of WF/PC-2 8827 (Cycle 9 Supplemental Darks pt2/3)

WF/PC-2 8604 (Stellar Populations Across the Small Magellanic Cloud
(SMC) : History and Structure)

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

1.1 Completed Four 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.

1.2 Completed FGS/1 8731 (A High Angular Resolution Survey of the Most
Massive Stars in the SMC)

Fine Guidance Sensor #1 was used to conduct high angular resolution
observations of some of the SMC’s hottest and most luminous objects by
conducting a comprehensive survey of nearly every spectral type in the
upper portion of the HR diagram. Binary or multiple star systems will be
detected down to an unprecedented level, more than one order of magnitude
better than possible with WFPC2. The targets selected include a
representative list of normal Main Sequence O-stars and their evolved
descendents, namely supergiants, hypergiants, LBVs, and WRs, many of which
have been previously observed by HST’s spectrometers for purposes of
cosmological calibrations. The observations completed, and no problems
were reported.

1.3 Completed STIS/CCD 8841 (Hot Pixel Annealing C9)

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to improve
the effectiveness of the CCD hot pixel annealing process. This is assessed
by measuring the dark current behavior before and after annealing and by
searching for any window contamination effects. In addition CTE
performance is examined by looking for traps in a low signal level
flat. The observations completed with no reported problems.

1.4 Completed Two 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.

1.5 Completed WF/PC-2 8604 (Stellar Populations Across the Small
Magellanic Cloud (SMC) : History and Structure)

The WF/PC-2 was used to investigate the structure and evolutionary
history of the SMC by obtaining a series of 50 three-color snapshots of
selected SMC regions. With this polling of SMC field star properties, we
will produce color-magnitude diagrams in the U, V and I bands which will
reach V~23.5 in regions too crowded to be observed accurately from the
ground. The observations completed nominally.

1.6 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.

1.7 Completed Two Sets of 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 Four 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.

1.9 Completed Three Sets of STIS/CCD 8845 (Spectroscopic Flats C9)

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to obtain
CCD flats in the spectroscopic mode. The observations completed with no
reported problems.

1.10 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.

1.11 Completed Two Sets of WF/PC-2 8585 (Cosmological Parameters from
Type Ia Supernovae at High Redshift)

The WF/PC-2 was used to measure the cosmological parameters, Omega,
Lambda, and thus the curvature, Omega_k, using Type Ia supernovae {SNe Ia}
as calibrated standard candles. There were no reported problems.

1.12 Completed STIS/CCD 8856 (CCD Sensitivity Monitor C9)

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to monitor
the sensitivity of each CCD grating mode to detect any change due to
contamination or other causes. The proposal also monitors the STIS focus
in an imaging mode. There were no anomalies.

1.13 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.

1.14 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.

1.15 Completed Three Sets of STIS/CCD 8836 (Performance Monitor {Cycle 9})

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to measure
the baseline performance and commandability of the CCD subsystem. Only
primary amplifier D was used. Bias and Flat Field
exposures were taken in order to measure read noise, CTE, and
gain. Numerous bias frames were taken to permit construction of
“superbias” frames in which the effects of read noise have been rendered
negligible. Full frame and binned observations were made, with binning
factors of 2 x 1, 1 x 2, 2 x 2, 4 x 1, and 4 x 2. Dark images were taken
in 2×2 binning mode; 1×1 binning darks are being taken in the nominal CCD
Dark Monitor. The exercise completed nominally.

1.16 Completed FGS-1 8783 (Orbits of Pre-Main Sequence Binaries)

FGS-1 was used to dynamically measure the masses of low mass
pre-main sequence stars. This is important because there are still no low
mass young stars with reliably known masses. In cycle 5 we began to map
the orbits of young multiple star systems in Taurus using FGS3. It is
proposed to continue to measure the orbits of the binary and triple systems
that have been determined to have the smallest angular separations with the
more capable FGS-1R. The proposal completed with no reported problems.

1.17 Completed Three Sets of STIS/MA1/MA2 8843 (Cycle 9 MAMA Dark
Measurements)

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (MA1 and MA2) was used to
perform the routine monitoring of the MAMA detector dark noise. The
proposal completed nominally.

1.18 Completed Two Sets of FGS/1 9240 (Astrometric Mass Determination
of an Extrasolar Planet Candidate)

Fine Guidance Sensor-1R was used to perform astrometric
observations that will allow a quick measure of the sky-plane motion of 55
Cancri, a G star with an Msin{i} = 0.9 MJ radial velocity companion with a
14 day period. By using 7 pairs of visits, where each visit within a pair
has the same parallax factor, we will be able to accurately determine the
stars’s proper motion. The reflex motion of the star, due to its orbit
about the star-companion barycenter, will manifest itself as a systematic
residual to the measured proper motion if the companion is sufficiently
massive. There were no reported problems.

1.19 Completed STIS/CCD/MA2 8681 (Snapshot Survey of Variability of
Narrow and Broad Associated Absorption Lines in Quasars)

The Space telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD and MA2) was used to
investigate the variability in the strength of absorption lines in quasar
spectra which is definitive proof that we are observing material that is
physically associated with the quasars. This proposal will conduct a STIS
snapshot survey to provide second epoch observations of 37 quasars with
narrow associated or broad absorption lines {NALs and BALs}, previously
observed with the FOS. At high redshift several intrinsic NALs and about
two thirds of BALs are known to vary, often in accord with continuum
variability. The amplitudes increase and the timescales decrease with
decreasing quasar luminosity. The proposal completed nominally.

1.20 Completed STIS/CCD 9106 (The Biggest Black Holes)

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to perform
searches for supermassive black holes in galaxy centers that have led to
the discoveries that {1} most or all hot galaxies contain massive dark
objects at their centers, presumably black holes; and {2} there is a tight
correlation between the black-hole mass and the luminosity-weighted
velocity dispersion of the hot component of the galaxy. This remarkable
relationship suggests a strong link between black-hole formation, AGN
activity, and galaxy formation, and once it is understood this link should
advance our understanding of all three processes. There were no reported
problems.

2.0 FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:

2.1 Guide Star Acquisitions:

Scheduled Acquisitions: 12

Successful: 12

Scheduled Re-acquisitions: 4

Successful: 4

2.2 FHST Updates:

Scheduled: 26

Successful: 26

2.3 Operations Notes:

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

A TTR was generated when two re-transmits were required during a
NSSC-1 uplink that began at 121/1304Z.