Status Report

Hubble Space Telescope Report #2781 8 Jan 2001

By SpaceRef Editor
January 8, 2001
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HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE
 
  DAILY REPORT #2781
 
PERIOD COVERED:  0000Z (UTC) 01/05/01 – 0000Z (UTC) 01/08/01
 
Daily Status Report as of 008/0000Z
 
1.0 OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED AND ACCOMPLISHED:
 
    1.1 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.
 
    1.2 Completed Six Sets of STIS/CCD 8837 (CCD Dark Monitor-Part 1)
 
        The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to monitor the darks.  As described in 2.1 and HSTAR 8036, the acquisition for the fifth iteration of this proposal defaulted to fine lock backup on one FGS only.  The proposal completed with no other reported problems.
 
    1.3 Completed Three Sets of WF/PC-2/STIS/CCD 8641 (Testing the Accelerating Universe)
 
        The WF/PC-2 and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) were used to observe Type Ia supernovae which provide evidence for an accelerating universe: an extraordinary result that needs to be rigorously tested.  The observations completed with no reported problems.
 
    1.4 Completed Two Sets of WF/PC-2 8597 (The Fueling of Active Nuclei: Why are Active Galaxies Active?)
 
        The WF/PC-2 was used to investigate the accretion onto massive black holes that are believed to be the energy source for AGN.  However, evidence for black holes in quiescent galaxies has also been reported.  Why are these galaxies inactive?  One possibility is that active galaxies are better at providing fuel to the nuclear region than quiescent
galaxies.  Other possible fueling mechanisms such as “bars-within-bars” or nuclear spirals cannot be investigated from the ground because they are relatively small features in the ISM.  The observations were completed as planned.
 
    1.5 Completed Six 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.
 
    1.6 Completed WF/PC-2/STIS/CCD 8573 (Newborn Planets and Brown Dwarf Companions in IC 348)
 
        The WF/PC-2 and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) were used to search for young giant planets and brown dwarfs around ~100 low-mass stars and brown dwarfs in the nearby cluster IC 348.  The observations completed with no reported problems.
 
    1.7 Completed Three Sets of 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.
 
    1.8 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.
 
    1.9 Completed Three Sets of 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 WF/PC-2 8716 (Search For Sub-Stellar Companions To Young Brown Dwarfs In The Chamaeleon I Dark Cloud)
 
        The WF/PC-2 was used to observe twelve very low-mass dwarfs in the Chamaeleon I dark cloud, a site of on-going star formation, all showing H-alpha emission with spectral types from M6 to M8.  We propose to observe these young, very low-mass dwarfs in order to search for close, faint companions.  There were no reported problems.
 
    1.11 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.
 
    1.12 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.
 
    1.13 Completed Five 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.
 
    1.14 Completed STIS/CCD 8664 (Structural Measurement of Globular Clusters in M31 and NGC 5128: Stalking the Fundamental Plane)
 
        The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to observe in the snapshot mode to image a wide selection of individual globular clusters in two other large galaxies {M31 and NGC 5128} for measurement of their structural parameters {r_c, c, central surface brightness}.  We will use these to compute their binding energies and define the FP in these two galaxies. Comparison with the Milky Way will then give us powerful new information on just how “universal” the cluster formation process was in the early protogalaxies.  The observations completed with no reported problems.
 
    1.15 Completed FGS/1R 8618 (Parallaxes of Magnetic CVs)
 
        The FGSs were used to gather data for the calculation of trigonometric parallaxes of cataclysmic variable {CVs} which are needed to obtain reliable information on luminosities, accretion rates, and on radii and masses of the stellar components.  They are also needed to derive the space density, an important ingredient for theories of CV evolution.  The observations completed with no reported problems.
 
    1.16 Completed WF/PC-2/STIS/CCD/MA2 8047 (Observations of Globular Cluster Stars)
 
        The WF/PC-2 and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD and MA2) were used to observe the star UIT-1 in the globular cluster which has been found to have large helium abundance {Y = 0.67}. This is to test whether this large helium abundance is due to deep mixing on the RGB, by using STIS E230M spectra to determine the aluminum abundance using the Al III 1860 line.  The proposal will simultaneously determine the iron abundance using the cluster of Fe III lines near 2075 A.  WF/PC-2 coordinate parallels will be obtained to determine the cluster horizontal branch morphology.  The observations completed with no reported problems.
 
    1.17 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.
 
    1.18 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.
 
    1.19 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.
 
    1.20 Completed Two Sets of STIS/CCD 8258 (A Search for Kuiper Belt Object Satellites)
 
        The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to look for Kuiper belt objects which may have been caused by the large number of collisions thought to have taken place in the primordial Kuiper belt similar to the binary-forming collisions to that which formed the Pluto — Charon binary.  As described in 2.1 and HSTAR 8036, the acquisition for the first iteration of this proposal defaulted to fine lock backup on one FGS only.  There were no other reported anomalies.
 
    1.21 Completed 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.  As described in 2.1 and HSTAR 8036, the acquisition for this proposal defaulted to fine lock backup on one FGS only.  The observation completed with no further reported problems.
 
    1.22 Completed Two Sets of STIS/CCD/MA1 8629 (The Search for “True” Starburst Dust and the Importance of Metallicity on Properties of O & B Stars)
 
        The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD and MA1) was used to observe starburst {SB} galaxies, at low and high redshift, to see whether there is any dependence between the nature of the SB dust extinction and the intrinsic physical parameters of OB stars versus
metallicity.  Typically SBs, unlike our Galaxy, exhibit extinction laws with no 2200Angstrom peak.  There is little information on the effects of dense star-formation on dust extinction properties.  Specifically, no UV-visual extinction studies exist for the dense star-forming regions of 30 Dor {LMC} and NGC 346 {SMC}, which represent prime laboratories for studying these effects.  As described in HSTAR 8037 and 2.1, the acquisition for the first iteration of this proposal failed, and the observations scheduled were not obtained.  Otherwise, there were no further reported problems with these observations.
 
    1.23 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.  As described in HSTAR 8037 and 2.1, the acquisition for the first iteration of this proposal failed, and the observations scheduled were not obtained.  Otherwise, the observations completed nominally.
 
    1.24 Completed WF/PC-2 8883 (POMS Test Proposal: WFII Backup Parallel Archive Proposal II)
 
        The WF/PC-2 was used to complete a POMS test proposal designed to simulate scientific plans.  There were no reported problems.
 
    1.25 Completed Three Sets of WF/PC-2/STIS/CCD 8576 (The Star-Formation History of the Large Magellanic Cloud)
 
        The WF/PC-2 and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) were used to more accurately determine the star-formation rate and chemical evolution of the Large Magellanic Cloud that can give us a solid foundation for understanding the evolution of intermediate-mass galaxies and, potentially, the origin of "faint blue galaxies" commonly found in redshift surveys.  As detailed in 2.1 and HSTAR 8038, the acquisition for the second iteration of this proposal defauled to fine lock backup on one FGS only, possibly affecting seven WF/PC-1 and three STIS observations.  Otherwise, the proposal completed as planned.
 
    1.26 Completed STIS/MA2 8689 (UV Extinction in Dusty Ellipticals)
 
        The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (MA2) was used to perform UV spectroscopy of bright inner parts of two dusty elliptical galaxies to study their ultraviolet extinction, in particular the 2175 Angstrom bump.  The observations completed with no anomalous activity.
 
    1.27 Completed WF/PC-2 8601 (A Snapshot Survey of Probable Nearby Galaxies)
 
        The WF/PC-2 was used to continue the very successful snapshot survey in order to use the high spatial resolution of HST to determine whether selected galaxies are nearby on the basis of resolution into stars, and the magnitudes and colors of the brightest stars.  There were no reported problems.
 
2.0 FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:
 
    2.1 Guide Star Acquisitions:
      Scheduled Acquisitions: 26
Successful: 25
 
        The acquisition at 006/155922Z defaulted to fine lock backup on FGS-1 only when the scan step limit was exceeded on FGS-3.  The following re-acquisition also met the same fate.  HSTAR 8036 was written.  The proposals detailed in 1.2, 1.20, and 1.21 may have been affected.
 
        Per HSTAR 8037, the acquisition scheduled for 006/185145Z failed to RGA control when the search radius limit was exceeded for FGS-2.  The following re-acquisition was successful.  The proposals described in 1.2 and 1.23 were affected.
 
        As documented in HSTAR 8038, the acquisition at 007/142721Z defaulted to fine lock backup on FGS-3 only when the scan step limit was exceeded on FGS-1.  The following re-acquisition also defaulted to fine lock backup.  The proposal detailed in 1.25 may have been affected.   Scheduled Re-acquisitions: 14
Successful: 14
 
    2.2 FHST Updates:
Scheduled: 49
Successful: 49
 
    2.3 Operations Notes:
 
        Using ROP SR-1A, the SSR EDAC error counter was cleared ten times.
 
        The engineering status buffer limits were adjusted three times per ROP DF-18A.
 
        A TTR was written when no UPDs or GCMRs were possible during the interval 006/233209Z until 006/233354Z.
 
        The NSSC-1 status buffer was dumped  and reset at 007/1733Z as directed by ROP NS-5.
 
3.0 SIGNIFICANT FORTHCOMING EVENTS:
 
        Continuation of normal science observations and calibrations.

SpaceRef staff editor.