NASA Hubble Space Telescope Daily Report #4418
Notice: Due to the conversion of some ACS WFC or HRC observations into WFPC2, or NICMOS observations after the loss of ACS CCD science capability in January, there may be an occasional discrepancy between a proposal’s listed (and correct) instrument usage and the abstract that follows it.
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE DAILY REPORT # 4418
– Continuing to collect World Class Science
PERIOD COVERED: UT August 2, 2007 (DOY 214)
OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED
NIC1/NIC2/NIC3 8794
NICMOS Post-SAA calibration – CR Persistence Part 5 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.
NIC2 10854
Coronagraphic Imaging of Bright New Spitzer Debris Disks II.
Fifteen percent of bright main sequence stars possess dusty circumstellar debris disks revealed by far-infrared photometry. These disks are signposts of planetary systems: collisions among larger, unseen parent bodies maintain the observed dust population against losses to radiation pressure and P-R drag. Images of debris disks at optical, infrared, and millimeter wavelengths have shown central holes, rings, radial gaps, warps, and azimuthal asymmetries which indicate the presence of planetary mass perturbers. Such images provide unique insights into the structure and dynamics of exoplanetary systems. Relatively few debris disks have been spatially resolved. Only thirteen have ever been resolved at any wavelength, and at wavelengths < 10 microns {where subarcsec resolution is available}, only ten. Imaging of many other debris disk targets has been attempted with various HST cameras/coronagraphs and adaptive optics, but without success. The key property which renders a debris disk observable in scattered light is its dust optical depth. The ten disks imaged so far all have a dust excess luminosity >~ 0.01% that of the central star; no disks with smaller optical depths have been detected. Most main sequence stars known to meet this requirement have already been observed, so future progress in debris disk imaging depends on discovering additional stars with large infrared excess. The Spitzer Space Telescope offers the best opportunity in 20 years to identify new examples of high optical depth debris disk systems. We propose to complete ACS coronagraphic imaging followup of bright, new debris disks discovered during the first two years of the Spitzer mission, by observing three additional targets in Cycle 15. Our goal is to obtain the first resolved images of these disks at ~3 AU resolution, define the disk sizes and orientations,and uncover disk substructures indicative of planetary perturbations. The results will open wider a window into the structure of planetary systems.
WFPC2 11029
WFPC2 CYCLE 15 Intflat Linearity Check and Filter Rotation Anomaly Monitor
Intflat observations will be taken to provide a linearity check: the linearity test consists of a series of intflats in F555W, in each gain and each shutter. A combination of intflats, visflats, and earthflats will be used to check the repeatability of filter wheel motions. {Intflat sequences tied to decons, visits 1-18 in prop 10363, have been moved to the cycle 15 decon proposal xxxx for easier scheduling.} Note: long-exposure WFPC2 intflats must be scheduled during ACS anneals to prevent stray light from the WFPC2 lamps from contaminating long ACS external exposures.
WFPC2 11084
Probing the Least Luminous Galaxies in the Local Universe
We propose to obtain deep color-magnitude data of eight new Local Group galaxies which we recently discovered: Andromeda XI, Andromeda XII, and Andromeda XIII {satellites of M31}; Canes Venatici I, Canes Venatici II, Hercules, and Leo IV {satellites of the Milky Way}; and Leo T, a new “free-floating” Local Group dwarf spheroidal with evidence for recent star formation and associated H I gas. These represent the least luminous galaxies known at *any* redshift, and are the only accessible laboratories for studying this extreme regime of galaxy formation. With deep WFPC-2 F606W and F814W pointings at their centers, we will determine whether these objects contain single or multiple age stellar populations, as well as whether these objects display a range of metallicities.
WFPC2 11169
Collisions in the Kuiper belt
For most of the 15 year history of observations of Kuiper belt objects, it has been speculated that impacts must have played a major role in shaping the physical and chemical characteristics of these objects, yet little direct evidence of the effects of such impacts has been seen. The past 18 months, however, have seen an explosion of major new discoveries giving some of the first insights into the influence of this critical process. From a diversity of observations we have been led to the hypotheses that: {1} satellite-forming impacts must have been common in the Kuiper belt; {2} such impacts led to significant chemical modification; and {3} the outcomes of these impacts are sufficiently predictable that we can now find and study these impact-derived systems by the chemical and physical attributes of both the satellites and the primaries. If our picture is correct, we now have in hand for the first time a set of incredibly powerful tools to study the frequency and outcome of collisions in the outer solar system. Here we propose three linked projects that would answer questions critical to the multiple prongs of our hypothesis. In these projects we will study the chemical effects of collisions through spectrophotometric observations of collisionally formed satellites and through the search for additional satellites around primaries with potential impact signatures, and we will study the physical effects of impacts through the examination of tidal evolution in proposed impact systems. The intensive HST program that we propose here will allow us to fully test our new hypotheses and will provide the ability to obtain the first extensive insights into outer solar system impact processes.
WFPC2/NIC3 11188
First Resolved Imaging of Escaping Lyman Continuum
The emission from star-forming galaxies appears to be responsible for reionization of the universe at z>6. However, the models that attempt to describe the detailed impact of high- redshift galaxies on the surrounding inter-galactic medium {IGM} are strongly dependent upon several uncertain parameters. Perhaps the most uncertain is the fraction of HI-ionizing photons produced by young stars which escape into the IGM. Most attempts to measure this “escape fraction” {f_esc} have produced null results. Recently, a small subset of z~3 Lyman Break Galaxies {LBGs} has been found exhibiting large escape fractions. It remains unclear however, what differentiates them from other LBGs. Several models attempt to explain how such a large fraction of ionizing continuum can escape through the HI and dust in the ISM {eg. “chimneys” created by SNe winds, globular cluster formation, etc.}, each producing unique signatures which can be observed with resolved imaging of the escaping Lyman continuum. We propose a deep, high resolution WFPC2 image of the ionizing continuum {F336W} and the rest-frame 1500 Angstrom continuum {F606W} of five of the six known LBGs with large escape fractions. These LBGs all fit within a single WFPC2 pointing, yielding high observing efficiency. Additionally, they all have z~3.1 or higher, the optimal redshift range for probing the Lyman Continuum region with available WFPC2 filters. These factors make our proposed sample especially suitable for follow- up. With these data we will discern the mechanisms responsible for producing large escape fractions, and therefore gain insight into the process of reionization.
FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:
Significant Spacecraft Anomalies: (The following are preliminary reports of potential non-nominal performance that will be investigated.) HSTARS: (None)
COMPLETED OPS REQUEST: (None)
COMPLETED OPS NOTES: (None)
SCHEDULED SUCCESSFUL FGS GSacq 07 07 FGS REacq 06 06 OBAD with Maneuver 26 26
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)
