Status Report

NASA Hubble Space Telescope Daily Report #4453

By SpaceRef Editor
September 24, 2007
Filed under , ,
NASA Hubble Space Telescope Daily Report  #4453

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 # 4453

– Continuing to collect World Class Science DAILY REPORT # 4453

PERIOD COVERED: UT September 21,22,23, 2007 (DOY 264,265,266)

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 DARKs. 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.

NIC3 11335

NICMOS Defocus parameter test

This proposal tests the new NICMOS non-nominal focus positions, which are implemented in the front-end systems and are specified in the Phase II using the CAMERA-FOCUS=DEFOCUS Optional Parameter. The targets from Proposals 9832 and 11063 are used in this Proposal. The GO Proposal 9832 is an example of how GOs may use the new non-nominal focus implementation for detector 3. Proposal 11063 is the NICMOS focus monitor, which will be used to verify the non-nominal focus for all 3 detectors.

WFPC2 11224

Unraveling Mira AB Accretion Mysteries

Wind accretion is one of the most common yet poorly understood phenomena in astrophysics. A key step toward advancing our understanding of physical processes and accretion geometries in wind accreting systems is direct imaging of the individual components and mass flows. The nearby symbiotic binary Mira AB, composed of an AGB donor star and an accreting compact companion, is a unique target since it can be easily spatially resolved with the HST, and thus serves as a perfect test laboratory for accretion studies in wind interacting systems. We propose to carry out WFPC2 observations of Mira AB following the HST and Chandra detections of an unprecedented outburst from the cool giant, and the discovery of an accretion stream showing for the first time evidence for a direct mass transfer between the components in a wind accreting system. High-angular- resolution multiwavelength imaging at UV /optical wavelengths will allow us to determine the properties of the ejected material as it flows throughout the binary and interacts with the Mira A circumstellar material and wind; the physical characteristics of mass transfer in this system and especially the role of the accretion stream between Mira A and Mira B; and the response of the system to the increased accretion rate onto Mira B following the outburst. These results will provide crucial inputs and quantitative constraints to models of wind interacting systems and will also anchor our understanding of accretion processes in a wide range of interacting binaries that cannot be currently resolved, including in other symbiotics and more exotic systems such as accreting black holes and neutron stars in high-mass X-ray binaries.

WFPC2 11178

Probing Solar System History with Orbits, Masses, and Colors of Transneptunian Binaries

The recent discovery of numerous transneptunian binaries {TNBs} opens a window into dynamical conditions in the protoplanetary disk where they formed as well as the history of subsequent events which sculpted the outer Solar System and emplaced them onto their present day heliocentric orbits. To date, at least 47 TNBs have been discovered, but only about a dozen have had their mutual orbits and separate colors determined, frustrating their use to investigate numerous important scientific questions. The current shortage of data especially cripples scientific investigations requiring statistical comparisons among the ensemble characteristics. We propose to obtain sufficient astrometry and photometry of 23 TNBs to compute their mutual orbits and system masses and to determine separate primary and secondary colors, roughly tripling the sample for which this information is known, as well as extending it to include systems of two near-equal size bodies. To make the most efficient possible use of HST, we will use a Monte Carlo technique to optimally schedule our observations.

WFPC2 11134

WFPC2 Tidal Tail Survey: Probing Star Cluster Formation on the Edge

The spectacular HST images of the interiors of merging galaxies such as the Antennae and NGC 7252 have revealed rich and diverse populations of star clusters created over the course of the interaction. Intriguingly, our WFPC2 study of tidal tails in these and other interacting pairs has shown that star cluster birth in the tails does not follow a similarly straightforward evolution. In fact, cluster formation in these relatively sparse environments is not guaranteed — only one of six tails in our initial study showed evidence for a significant population of young star clusters. The tail environment thus offers the opportunity to probe star cluster formation on the edge of the physical parameter space {e.g., of stellar and gas mass, density, and pressure} that permits it to occur. We propose to signficantly extend our pilot sample of optically bright, gas-rich tidal tails by a factor of 4 in number to include a more diverse population of tails, encompassing major and minor mergers, gas-rich and gas-poor tails, as well as early, late, and merged interaction stages. With 21 orbits of HST WFPC2 imaging in the F606W and F814W filters, we can identify, roughly age-date, and measure sizes of star clusters to determine what physical parameters affect star cluster formation. WFPC2 imaging has been used effectively in our initial study of four mergers, and it will be possible in this program to reach similar limits of Mv=-8.5 for each of 16 more tails. With the much larger sample we expect to isolate which factors, such as merger stage, HI content, and merger mass ratio, drive the formation of star clusters.

WFPC2 11122

Expanding PNe: Distances and Hydro Models

We propose to obtain repeat narrowband images of a sample of eighteen planetary nebulae {PNe} which have HST/WFPC2 archival data spanning time baselines of a decade. All of these targets have previous high signal-to-noise WFPC2/PC observations and are sufficiently nearby to have readily detectable expansion signatures after a few years. Our main scientific objectives are {a} to determine precise distances to these PNe based on their angular expansions, {b} to test detailed and highly successful hydrodynamic models that predict nebular morphologies and expansions for subsamples of round/elliptical and axisymmetric PNe, and {c} to monitor the proper motions of nebular microstructures in an effort to learn more about their physical nature and formation mechanisms. The proposed observations will result in high-precision distances to a healthy subsample of PNe, and from this their expansion ages, luminosities, CSPN properties, and masses of their ionized cores. With good distances and our hydro models, we will be able to determine fundamental parameters {such as nebular and central star masses, luminosity, age}. The same images allow us to monitor the changing overall ionization state and to search for the surprisingly non-homologous growth patterns to bright elliptical PNe of the same sort seen by Balick & Hajian {2004} in NGC 6543. Non-uniform growth is a sure sign of active pressure imbalances within the nebula that require careful hydro models to understand.

NIC3 11107

Imaging of Local Lyman Break Galaxy Analogs: New Clues to Galaxy Formation in the Early Universe

We have used the ultraviolet all-sky imaging survey currently being conducted by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer {GALEX} to identify for the first time a rare population of low- redshift starbursts with properties remarkably similar to high-redshift Lyman Break Galaxies {LBGs}. These “compact UV luminous galaxies” {UVLGs} resemble LBGs in terms of size, SFR, surface brightness, mass, metallicity, kinematics, dust, and color. The UVLG sample offers the unique opportunity of investigating some very important properties of LBGs that have remained virtually inaccessible at high redshift: their morphology and the mechanism that drives their star formation. Therefore, in Cycle 15 we have imaged 7 UVLGs using ACS in order to 1} characterize their morphology and look for signs of interactions and mergers, and 2} probe their star formation histories over a variety of timescales.  The images show a striking trend of small-scale mergers turning large amounts of gas into vigorous starbursts {a process referred to as dissipational or “wet” merging}. Here, we propose to complete our sample of 31 LBG analogs using the ACS/SBC F150LP {FUV} and WFPC2 F606W {R} filters in order to create a statistical sample to study the mechanism that triggers star formation in UVLGs and its implications for the nature of LBGs. Specifically, we will 1} study the trend between galaxy merging and SFR in UVLGs, 2} artificially redshift the FUV images to z=1-4 and compare morphologies with those in similarly sized samples of LBGs at the same rest-frame wavelenghts in e.g. GOODS, UDF, and COSMOS, 3} determine the presence and morphology of significant stellar mass in “pre-burst” stars, and 4} study their immediate environment. Together with our Spitzer {IRAC+MIPS}, GALEX, SDSS and radio data, the HST observations will form a unique union of data that may for the first time shed light on how the earliest major episodes of star formation in high redshift galaxies came about. This proposal was adapted from an ACS HRC+WFC proposal to meet the new Cycle 16 observing constraints, and can be carried out using the ACS/SBC and WFPC2 without compromising our original science goals.

NIC3 11082

NICMOS Imaging of GOODS: Probing the Evolution of the Earliest Massive Galaxies, Galaxies Beyond Reionization, and the High Redshift Obscured Universe (uses ACS/SBC and WFPC2)

Deep near-infrared imaging provides the only avenue towards understanding a host of astrophysical problems, including: finding galaxies and AGN at z > 7, the evolution of the most massive galaxies, the triggering of star formation in dusty galaxies, and revealing properties of obscured AGN. As such, we propose to observe 60 selected areas of the GOODS North and South fields with NICMOS Camera 3 in the F160W band pointed at known massive M > 10^11 M_0 galaxies at z > 2 discovered through deep Spitzer imaging. The depth we will reach {26.5 AB at 5 sigma} in H_160 allows us to study the internal properties of these galaxies, including their sizes and morphologies, and to understand how scaling relations such as the Kormendy relationship evolved. Although NIC3 is out of focus and undersampled, it is currently our best opportunity to study these galaxies, while also sampling enough area to perform a general NIR survey 1/3 the size of an ACS GOODS field. These data will be a significant resource, invaluable for many other science goals, including discovering high redshift galaxies at z > 7, the evolution of galaxies onto the Hubble sequence, as well as examining obscured AGN and dusty star formation at z > 1.5. The GOODS fields are the natural location for HST to perform a deep NICMOS imaging program, as extensive data from space and ground based observatories such as Chandra, GALEX, Spitzer, NOAO, Keck, Subaru, VLT, JCMT, and the VLA are currently available for these regions. Deep high-resolution near-infrared observations are the one missing ingredient to this survey, filling in an important gap to create the deepest, largest, and most uniform data set for studying the faint and distant universe. The importance of these images will increase with time as new facilities come on line, most notably WFC3 and ALMA, and for the planning of future JWST observations.

WFPC2 11079

Treasury Imaging of Star Forming Regions in the Local Group: Complementing the GALEX and NOAO Surveys

We propose to use WFPC2 to image the most interesting star-forming regions in the Local Group galaxies, to resolve their young stellar populations. We will use a set of filters including F170W, which is critical to detect and characterize the most massive stars, to whose hot temperatures colors at longer wavelengths are not sensitive. WFPC2’s field of view ideally matches the typical size of the star-forming regions, and its spatial resolution allows us to measure individual stars, given the proximity of these galaxies. The resulting H-R diagrams will enable studies of star-formation properties in these regions, which cover largely differing metallicities {a factor of 17, compared to the factor of 4 explored so far} and characteristics. The results will further our understanding of the star-formation process, of the interplay between massive stars and environment, the properties of dust, and will provide the key to interpret integrated measurements of star-formation indicators {UV, IR, Halpha} available for several hundreds more distant galaxies. Our recent deep surveys of these galaxies with GALEX {FUV, NUV} and ground-based imaging {UBVRI, Halpha, [OIII] and [SII]} provided the identification of the most relevant SF sites. In addition to our scientific analysis, we will provide catalogs of HST photometry in 6 bands, matched corollary ground-based data, and UV, Halpha and IR integrated measurements of the associations, for comparison of integrated star-formation indices to the resolved populations. We envisage an EPO component.

NIC3 11064

CYCLE 15 NICMOS SPECTROPHOTOMETRY CALIBRATION PROGRAM

Now that the spectrophotometric capabilities of the NICMOS grism have been established, cycle 15 observations are needed to refine the sensitivity estimates, to check for sensitivity loss with time, to improve the accuracy of the linearity correction, to improve the secondary flux standards by re-observation, and to expand the G206 data set now that the sky subtraction technique has been shown to produce useful fluxes for some of the fainter secondary standards. These faint secondary IR standards will be a significant step towards establishing flux standards for JWST, as well as for SNAP, Spitzer, and SOFIA. 1.Re- observe the 3 primary WDs GD71, G191B2b, & GD153 twice each, once at the beginning and once near the end of the 18 month cycle. To date, we have only 2 observation of each star, while the corresponding STIS data set for these primary standards ranges from 6 to 23 obs. No observations exist for GD71 or GD153 with G206, so that the current G206 sensitivity is defined solely by G191B2B. Purposes: Refine sensitivities, measure sens losses. Orbits: 2 for each of 6 visits = 12 2. Re-observe WD1057 & WD1657 plus another P041C lamp-on visit to improve the scatter in the non-lin measurements per Fig. 8 of NIC ISR 2006-02. The WD stars require 2 orbits each, while the lamp-on test is done in one. The very faintest and most crucial standard WD1657 has 2 good visits already, so to substantially improve the S/N, two visits of two orbits are needed. Include G206 for P041C in the lamp-off baseline part of that orbit. Orbits: WD1057-2, WD1657-4, P041C-1 –> 7 3. Re-observe 9 secondary standards to improve S/N of the faint ones and to include G206 for all 9. BD+17 {3 obs} is not repeated in this cycle. Four are bright enough to do in one orbit: VB8, 2M0036+18, P330E, and P177D. Orbits:2*5+4=14 Grand Total orbits over 18 month cycle 15 is 12+6+14=32 {Roelof will submit the P041C lamp-on visit in a separate program.}

NIC2 11016

NICMOS Flats: narrow and broad filters for NIC1 {+ NIC2, NIC3 in parallel}

This proposal obtains sequences of NICMOS narrow band filter flat fields for camera 1. In cameras 2 and 3, parallel observations will allow us to obtain high S/N flats for all spectral elements.

WFPC2 10919

Eclipsing Binaries in the Local Group: II – Calibration of the Zeropoint of the Cosmic Distance Scale and Fundamental Properties of Stars in M33

(uses ACS/SBC and WFPC2)

The Great Spiral Galaxy in Triangulum {M33} is potentially a crucial calibrator for the Cosmic Distance Scale, and thus for determining the age and evolution of the Universe. M33 is viewed face-on, has a simple geometry, large and diverse stellar populations, and morphologies similar to our Galaxy and other more distant galaxies used for distance determinations. Yet currently the M33 distance {d ~ 830 +/- 110 kpc} still has measurement dispersions of 10-15%. We have demonstrated, in our work on the LMC and M31 distances, that double-line eclipsing binaries can serve as excellent “standard candles.” Distances derived from eclipsing binaries are basically geometric and essentially free from many assumptions and uncertainties that plague other less direct methods, such as metallicity differences and calibration zeropoints. The absolute radii of the component stars of eclipsing binaries can be determined to better than a few percent from the time- tested analyses of their light and radial velocity curves. With accurate determinations of radii, temperatures, and ISM absorption it is possible to determine reliable distances. We are extending our program of using eclipsing binaries as standard candles to determine an accurate distance to M33. As a first step, we are proposing to carry out HST/ACS spectrophotometry of a well suited ~19th mag ~O7 + ~O7 eclipsing binary system in M33 that has been previously observed from the ground. HST/ACS prism/grism low-resolution spectrophotometry {118-850 nm} is the only missing key element of this program and is used to determine more reliable values for T_eff, [Fe/H], and ISM extinction. These quantities, when combined with the results from existing light and radial velocity curves for the target, yield the stellar masses, radii, luminosities and, importantly, the distance. The proposed HST/ACS program can be carried out effectively with only 1 HST orbit. Based on our previous experience, we expect to reduce the uncertainty of the M33 distance to better than 5-7%, thereby leading to a firmer calibration of the Cosmic Distance Scale and the zeropoint of the Hubble Constant {Ho}.

WFPC2 10787

Modes of Star Formation and Nuclear Activity in an Early Universe Laboratory

Nearby compact galaxy groups are uniquely suited to exploring the mechanisms of star formation amid repeated and ongoing gravitational encounters, conditions similar to those of the high redshift universe. These dense groups host a variety of modes of star formation, and they enable fresh insights into the role of gas in galaxy evolution. With Spitzer mid-IR observations in hand, we have begun to obtain high quality, multi-wavelength data for a well- defined sample of 12 nearby {<4500km/s} compact groups covering the full range of evolutionary stages. Here we propose to obtain sensitive BVI images with the ACS/WFC, deep enough to reach the turnover of the globular cluster luminosity function, and WFPC2 U-band and ACS H-alpha images of Spitzer-identified regions hosting the most recent star formation. In total, we expect to detect over 1000 young star clusters forming inside and outside galaxies, more than 4000 old globular clusters in >40 giant galaxies {including 16 early-type galaxies}, over 20 tidal

features, approximately 15 AGNs, and intragroup gas in most of the 12 groups. Combining the proposed ACS images with Chandra observations, UV GALEX observations, ground-based H-alpha imaging, and HI data, we will conduct a detailed study of stellar nurseries, dust, gas kinematics, and AGN.

WFPC2 10766

A Deep X-ray Survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud

We request deep observations of 2 representative fields in the Small Magellanic Cloud with Chandra and HST,with the primary goal of measuring the luminosity function and space density of X-ray binaries and other sources down to an unprecedented faint luminosity limit of 2x10E32 erg/s. This will be the faintest XLF ever obtained for any galaxy, including our own. HST photometry to 24th magnitude in V and I filters will identify the sources and provide Fx/Fopt, which will be vital in quantifying the LMXB population and in measuring the properties of the first coronally active stars ever detected in an external galaxy.

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               18                  18 
FGS REacq               20                  20 
OBAD with Maneuver      72                  72 

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)

SpaceRef staff editor.