NASA Hubble Space Telescope Daily Report # 3587

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE – Continuing to collect World Class Science

DAILY REPORT # 3587

PERIOD COVERED: DOY 98

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED

ACS/HRC 9747

An Imaging Survey of the Statistical Frequency of Binaries Among
Exceptionally-Young Dynamical Families in the Main Asteroid Belt

We propose an ambitious SNAPSHOT program to determine the frequency of
binaries
among two very young asteroid families in the Main Belt, with potentially
profound implications. These families {of C- and S-type} have recently been
discovered {Nesvorny et al. 2002, Nature 417, 720}, through dynamical
modeling,
to have been formed at 5.8 MY and 8.3 MY ago in catastrophic impact events.
This
is the first time such precise and young ages have been assigned to a
family.
Main-belt binaries are almost certainly produced by collisions, and we would
expect a young family to have a significantly higher frequency of binaries
than
the background, because they may not yet have been destroyed by impact or
longer-term gravitational instabilities. In fact, one of the prime
observables
from such an event should be the propensity for satellites. This is the
best way
that new numerical models for binary production by collisions {motivated
largely
by our ground-based discoveries of satellites among larger asteroids}, can
be
validated and calibrated. We will also measure two control
clusters, one being an "old" family, and the other a collection of
background
asteroids that do not have a family association, and further compare with
our
determined value for the frequency of large main-belt binaries {2%}. We
request
visits to 180 targets, using ACS/HRC.

ACS/HRC 9851

Host Galaxies of Reverberation-Mapped AGNs

We propose to obtain unsaturated ACS high-resolution images of all
reverberation-mapped active galactic nuclei in order to remove the
point-like
nuclear light from each image, thus yielding a "nucleus-free" image of the
host
galaxy. This will allow investigation of host-galaxy properties: our
particular
interest is determination of the host-galaxy starlight contribution to the
reverberation mapping observations, which is necessary for accurate
determination of the relationship between the AGN continuum flux and the
size of
the broad Balmer-line emitting region of AGNs. Because this relationship is
used
to estimate black-hole masses of large samples of distant AGNs, correct
determination of the slope of this relationship is critically important.

ACS/HRC/WFC 10044

ACS internal CTE monitor

The charge transfer efficiency {CTE} of the ACS CCD detectors will decline
as
damage due to on-orbit radiation exposure accumulates. This degradation will
be
closely monitored at regular intervals, because it is likely to determine
the
useful lifetime of the CCDs. All the data for this program is acquired using
internal targets {lamps} only, so all of the exposures should be taken
during
Earth occultation time {but not during SAA passages}. This program emulates
the
ACS pre-flight ground calibration and post-launch SMOV testing {program
8948},
so that results from each epoch can be directly compared. Extended Pixel
Edge
Response {EPER} and First Pixel Response {FPR} data will be obtained over a
range of signal levels for both the Wide Field Channel {WFC}, and the High
Resolution Channel {HRC}.

ACS/HRC/WFC 10060

CCD Daily Monitor

This program consists of basic tests to monitor, the read noise, the
development
of hot pixels and test for any source of noise in ACS CCD detectors. This
programme will be executed once a day for the entire lifetime of ACS.

ACS/WFC 9717

Low Redshift Cluster Gravitational Lensing Survey

This proposal has two main scientific goals: to determine the dark matter
distribution of massive galaxy clusters, and to observe the high redshift
universe using these clusters as powerful cosmic telescopes. Deep, g, r, i,
z
imaging of a sample of low-z {0.2-0.4} clusters will yield a large sample of
lensed background galaxies with reliable photometric redshifts. By combining
strong and weak lensing constraints with the photometric redshift
information it
will be possible to precisely measure the cluster dark matter distribution
with
an unprecedented combination of high spatial resolution and area coverage,
avoiding many of the uncertainties which plague ground-based studies and
yielding definitive answers about the structure of massive dark matter
haloes.
In addition, the cosmological parameters can be constrained in a largely
model
independent way using the multiply lensed objects due to the dependence of
the
Einsteinng radius on the distance to the source. We can also expect to
detect
several highly magnified dropout galaxies behind the clusters in the
redshift
ranges 4-5 5-6 and 7-8, corresponding to a drop in the flux in the g, r, and
i
bands relative to longer wavelength. We will obtain the best information to
date
on the giant arcs already known in these clusters, making possible detailed,
pixel-by-pixel studies of their star formation rate, dust distribution and
structural components, including spiral arms, out to a redshift of around
z~2.5
in several passbands.

ACS/WFC/WFPC2 9822

The COSMOS 2-Degree ACS Survey

We will undertake a 2 square degree imaging survey {Cosmic Evolution
Survey —
COSMOS} with ACS in the I {F814W} band of the VIMOS equatorial field. This
wide
field survey is essential to understand the interplay between Large Scale
Structure {LSS} evolution and the formation of galaxies, dark matter and
AGNs
and is the one region of parameter space completely unexplored at present by
HST. The equatorial field was selected for its accessibility to all
ground-based
telescopes and low IR background and because it will eventually contain
~100,
000 galaxy spectra from the VLT-VIMOS instrument. The imaging will detect
over 2
million objects with I> 27 mag {AB, 10 sigma}, over 35, 000 Lyman Break
Galaxies
{LBGs} and extremely red galaxies out to z ~ 5. COSMOS is the only HST
project
specifically designed to probe the formation and evolution of structures
ranging
from galaxies up to Coma-size clusters in the epoch of peak galaxy, AGN,
star
and cluster formation {z ~0.5 to 3}. The size of the largest structures
necessitate the 2 degree field. Our team is committed to the assembly of
several
public ancillary datasets including the optical spectra, deep XMM and VLA
imaging, ground-based optical/IR imaging, UV imaging from GALEX and IR data
from
SIRTF. Combining the full-spectrum multiwavelength imaging and spectroscopic
coverage with ACS sub-kpc resolution, COSMOS will be Hubble’s ultimate
legacy
for understanding the evolution of both the visible and dark universe.

FGS 9879

An Astrometric Calibration of the Cepheid Period-Luminosity Relation

We propose to measure the parallaxes of 10 Galactic Cepheid variables.
When these parallaxes {with 1-sigma precisions of 10% or better} are added
to
our recent HST FGS parallax determination of delta Cep {Benedict et al
2002},
we anticipate determining the Period-Luminosity relation zero point with a
0.03 mag precision. In addition to permitting the test of assumptions that
enter into other Cepheid distance determination techniques, this calibration
will reintroduce Galactic Cepheids as a fundamental step in the
extragalactic
distance scale ladder. A Period-Luminosity relation derived from solar
metallicity Cepheids can be applied directly to extragalactic solar
metallicity
Cepheids, removing the need to bridge with the Large Magellanic Cloud and
its
associated metallicity complications.

NIC1/NIC2/NIC3 8792

NICMOS Post-SAA calibration – CR Persistence Part 3

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. The keyword ‘USEAFTER=date/time’ will also be added to the
header of each POST-SAA DARK frame. The keyword must be populated with the
time,
in addition to the date, because HST crosses the SAA ~8 times per day so
each
POST-SAA DARK will need to have the appropriate time specified, for users to
identify the ones they need. Both the raw and processed images will be
archived
as POST-SAA DARKSs. Generally we expect that all NICMOS science/calibration
observations started within 50 minutes of leaving an SAA will need such maps
to
remove the CR persistence from the science images. Each observation will
need
its own CRMAP, as different SAA passages leave different imprints on the
NICMOS
detectors.

S/C 10097

NICMOS Temperature Setpoint Darks

NICMOS darks at different temperatures are needed to calibrate the software
tool
used to create synthetic darks. Synthetic darks are used during
calibration. The
temperatures of the NICMOS detectors will be adjusted by +0.5 to -1.0 K
from the
nominal operating temperature. Darks in each camera will be obtained at each
of
the temperature settings. At the end of the Proposal the NCS nominal
setpoint
temperature for the NICMOS detectors will be increased by 0.07 K for the
cool
season {routine seasonal adjustment}.

STIS/CCD 10018

CCD Dark Monitor-Part 2

Monitor the darks for the STIS CCD.

STIS/CCD 10020

CCD Bias Monitor – Part 2

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.

STIS/CCD 10037

STIS Cycle 12 Faint Standard Extension: FASTEX

WD 1657+343 is the faintest of four pure hydrogen WD stars that comprised
the
original FASTEX program and has been observed thrice in 2000 and once in
2002 to
firmly establish the absolute flux levels. Annual revisits of one orbit
should
occur to monitor our predictions of the CTE correction, which is increasing
with
time on orbit. G430L at both the standard and E1 aperture position are
required
at the exposure times already established as standard. The remaining time
in the
orbit will be spent extending the wavelength coverage using G750L. To date,
HST
has not provided any faint solar analog stars to compliment the three
V=12-13.5
mag solar analogs provided by M. Rieke for NICMOS calibration. As
instrumentation in space and on the ground becomes more sensitive, fainter
flux
standards are required. A solar analog in a field with low reddening is an
excellent choice for a fainter standard, because unreddened pure hydrogen
WDs
are rare beyond V=16, because Solar absolute fluxes are well measured at all
wavelengths, and because the fluxes do not fall off as fast as the hot WDs
at
longer wavelengths. A 16.5 G star may not be faint enough for most JWST
modes
but will provide a significant step in the right direction. The SNAP program
requires such a spectrophotometric standard, which lies at the bright limit
of
its spectroscopy mode. NICMOS grism observation of this standard are
planned for
cycle 12 and STIS spectra are required to establish the standard over the
full
range from 0.3-2 microns.

WFPC2 10070

WFPC2 CYCLE 12 Supplemental Darks Part 2/3

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

FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:

Significant Spacecraft Anomalies: (The following are preliminary reports of
potential non-nominal performance that will be investigated.)

HSTAR 9368: OTA SE review of PTAS processing logs for SA089O revealed GS
Reacquisition (1,2,1) @ 095/01:50Z that required two
attempts
before FGS 2R was able to achieve FL-DV. Under
investigation.

COMPLETED OPS REQs: None

OPS NOTES EXECUTED: None

                         SCHEDULED     SUCCESSFUL    FAILURE TIMES
FGS GSacq             9                          9
FGS REacq             9                          9
FHST Update           16                        16
LOSS of LOCK

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS:
Set-up and Execution of HST ACS FSW 4.0 OAT scheduled 099/10:00Z –
100/04:00Z
with GDOC, HITT, SE, and VEST using CCS "D" String with CCS Release 5.0.3.1
and
PRD O06400ST and CCS "C" with CCS Release 4.0.3.1 and PRD O06400T. The
purpose of this testing is to verify the installation and backout procedures
for ACS FSW 4.0 in an operational scenario.