Hubble Space Telescope Daily Report #3125 – 28 May 2002

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE

DAILY REPORT # 3125

PERIOD COVERED: 0000Z (UTC) 05/27/02 – 0000Z (UTC) 05/28/02

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED AND ACCOMPLISHED:

STIS/CCD 8572

Identifying Normal Galaxies at 1.3 < z < 2.5.

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) 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.

NICMOS 8790

NICMOS Post-SAA calibration – CR Persistence Part 1.

A new procedure proposed to alleviate the CR-persistence problem of NICMOS.
Dark frames will be obtained immediately upon exiting the SAA contour 23, and
every time a NICMOS exposure is scheduled within 50 minutes of coming out
of the
SAA. The darks will be obtained in parallel in all three NICMOS Cameras. The
POST-SAA darks will be non-standard reference files available to users with a
USEAFTER date/time mark.

STIS/CCD 8902

Dark Monitor-Part 2.

STIS/CCD 8904

Bias Monitor-Part 2.

2×2 bin settings at gain=1, and 1×1 at gain = 4 in order to build up high-S/N
superbiases and track the evolution of hot columns.

WFPC2 8938

WFPC2 CYCLE 9 SUPPLEMENTAL DARKS pt3/3.

This dark calibration program obtains 3 dark frames every day to provide data
for monitoring and characterizing the evolution of hot pixels.

WF/PC-2 8941

Cycle 10 UV Earthflats.

The WF/PC-2 was used to monitor flat field stability by obtaining sequences of
earth streak flats to improve the quality of pipeline flat fields for the WFPC2
UV filter set.

ACS/WFC/HRC 8947

Weekly Test.

The Advanced Camera for Surveys (WFC and HRC) was used to perform basic
tests to
monitor, the read noise, the development of hot pixels and test for any source
of noise in ACS CCD detectors. This program will be executed at least once
a day
for the entire lifetime of ACS.

STIS/CCD/MA1 9182

The Thermal Glow of Gamma Ray Pulsar.

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD and MA1) was used to perform
time-
and energy- resolved UV observations of two young Gamma-ray pulsars. The
targets, the Vela and Geminga pulsars, are the brightest neutron stars spanning
the critical 10^4-10^6y age range, where the thermal surface emission is
detectable. The UV light curves obtained will provide phase-resolved colors
that
will isolate this thermal emission and test the equation of state and
fundamental interactions of matter at supernuclear densities. In addition,
combining the UV results with IR/optical and X-ray data, the proposers will map
spectral variations in the non-thermal pulsations and probe the acceleration
physics of these GeV gamma-ray machines.

WF/PC-2 9258

Observatory Focus Monitor.

The WF/PC-2 wasue=”d to more accurately define the HST focus. The HST focus
drifts slowly and shows evidence of undergoing slips of a few microns at random
times. The rate of the WF/PC-2 monitoring program is insufficient to track
and/or understand OTA behavior in order to request timely and appropriate
Secondary Mirror corrections.

NICMOS 9269

NICMOS Parallel Thermal Background

NICMOS Camera 3 pure parallel exposures in the F222M filter will be
obtained for
the entire duration of SMOV to establish the stability of the
HST+NCS+Instrument
thermal emission.

STIS/CCD 9317

Pure Parallel Imaging Program: Cycle 10.

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to perform the default
archival pure parallel program for STIS during cycle 10.

WF/PC-2 9318

POMS Test Proposal: WFII Parallel Archive Proposal Continuation.

The WF/PC-2 was used to perform the generic target version of the WFPC2
Archival
Pure Parallel program. The program was used to take parallel images of random
areas of the sky, following the recommendations of the Parallels Working
Group.

9353

Direct imaging of the progenitors of massive, core-collapse supernovae

Modern supernovae searches in the nearby Universe are discovering vast numbers
of SNe which have massive star progenitors {Types II, Ib and Ic}. The extensive
HST {and ground-based} image archives of galaxies within ~20 Mpc enables their
individual bright stellar content to be resolved. As massive, evolved stars are
the most luminous single objects in a galaxy, the progenitors of core-collapse
SNe should be directly detectable on pre-explosion images. Within the last year
we have set direct mass limits on the progenitors of two SNe Type II-P by
analyzing pre-explosion archive images and follow up HST exposures. We have now
identified six other recent, nearby SNe which have WFPC2 archive exposures of
the site taken before explosion. Additionally, our Cycle 10 SNAP program will
double the WFPC2 image archive of nearby galaxies which significantly increases
the chances of having multi-colour photometry of pre-explosion sites for future
SNe. In this Cycle, we request time on two fronts. Firstly we require
imaging of
the six SNe with existing pre-explosion data in order to perform exact
astrometry of the SNe positions to around 0.05”. Secondly, as a follow on from
our two successful Cycle 10 programs, we request ToO status for any nearby
core-collapse SN which explodes during Cycle 11 and which has pre-explosion HST
images. The goal of this proposal is to directly identify the progenitor stars
of core-collapse SNe.

ACS 9476

Galaxy Evolution in the Richest Clusters at z=0.8: the EDisCS Cluster Sample

The study of distant cluster galaxies requires two key ingredients: {1} deep
high-resolution imaging, to constrain galaxy structure; and {2} 8m-class
spectroscopy, to measure stellar content, star-formation rates, dynamics, and
cluster membership. We will reach both conditions with the addition of HST/ACS
imaging to our suite of VLT {36 nights} and NTT {20 nights} observations of 10
confirmed clusters at z~0.8, drawn from the ESO Distant Cluster Survey
{EDisCS}.
The proposed HST/ACS data will complement our existing optical/IR imaging and
spectroscopy with quantitative measures of cluster galaxy morphologies {i.e.
sizes and shapes, bulge-disk decompositions, asymmetry parameters}, and with
measurements of cluster masses via weak lensing. Major advantages unique to the
EDisCS project include: {i} uniform selection of clusters; {ii} large enough
sample sizes to characterize the substantial cluster-to-cluster variation in
galaxy populations; {iii} large quantities of high quality data from 8m
telescopes; {iv} uniform measurements of morphologies, spectroscopic and
photometric redshifts, SEDs, star-formation/AGN activities, and internal
kinematics; {v} optical selection of clusters to complement the X-ray selection
of almost all high-z clusters in the ACS GTO programs; {vi} forefront numerical
simulations designed specifically to allow physical interpretation of observed
differences between the high-z and local clusters.

ACS/WFC 9575

Default {Archival} Pure Parallel Program.

The Advanced Camera for Surveys (WFC) was used to test ACS pure parallels in
POMS.

ACS 9586

ACS Polarization Calibration

This proposal aims to calibrate the polarization modes most heavily used in
Cycle 11. We need L-flat observations, observations of a polarized star and an
unpolarized star, and an observation of an extended polarized source.

WFPC2 9634

POMS Test Proposal: WFII targeted parallel archive proposal

The parallel opportunities available with WFPC2 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. Thus, the filter F656N is added to the four standard filters. Near
more
distant galaxies, up to about 10 Mpc, we can map the population of globular
clusters; for this purpose, F300W is less useful, and only F450W, F606W, and
F814W will be used.

FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:

HSTARs:

8664 – C-String CoredataServer ISP @147/0241z

8665 – ispnul problem @148/0150z

COMPLETED OPS REQs: None

OPS NOTES EXECUTED: None

                   SCHEDULED     SUCCESSFUL    FAILURE TIMES

FGS GSacq            6                6

FGS REacq            10              10

FHST Update          18              18

LOSS of LOCK        None

Operations Notes: None

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS:

Continuation of Servicing Mission Orbital Verification and the gradual
resumption of normal science observations and calibrations.