NASA Hubble Space Telescope Daily Report #5001
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE DAILY REPORT #5001
Continuing to Collect World Class Science
PERIOD COVERED: 5am December 28 – 5am December 29, 2009 (DOY 362/10:00z-363/10:00z)
OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED
ACS/WFC3 11879
CCD Daily Monitor (Part 1)
This program comprises basic tests for measuring the read noise and dark current of the ACS WFC and for tracking the growth of hot pixels. The recorded frames are used to create bias and dark reference images for science data reduction and calibration. This program will be executed four days per week (Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun) for the duration of Cycle 17. To facilitate scheduling, this program is split into three proposals. This proposal covers 352 orbits (22 weeks) from 31 August 2009 to 31 January 2010.
COS/FUV 11524
COS-GTO: Warm and Hot ISM In and Near the Milky Way
COS G130M and G160M 20, 000 resolution observations will be obtained for 10 AGNs situated beyond Milky Way high velocity clouds. For all objects good O VI line profile observations exist from FUSE and high velocity O VI is detected. The COS observations will be used to obtain high quality absorption line profiles (S/N ~ 30 to 40) for C IV, Si IV and N V in the low and high velocity gas toward each AGN. The high ionization profiles of O VI (from FUSE), N V, C IV, and Si IV will be compared to low ionization profiles (O I, S II, Si II, Fe II, etc.) in order to evaluate the physical conditions and origins of the highly ionized gas in and near the Milky Way at low and high velocity. The HVCs include Complex C (four lines of sight), Complex A, WD, WB, and several negative velocity O VI HVCs. Other studies to be undertaken with this data set include studies of the physical conditions and abundances in the cool and warm HVC gas and studies of the physical conditions in low redshift IGM systems detected along the 10 lines of sight.
COS/NUV 11894
NUV Detector Dark Monitor
The purpose of this proposal is to measure the NUV detector dark rate by taking long science exposures with no light on the detector. The detector dark rate and spatial distribution of counts will be compared to pre-launch and SMOV data in order to verify the nominal operation of the detector. Variations of count rate as a function of orbital position will be analyzed to find dependence of dark rate on proximity to the SAA. Dependence of dark rate as function of time will also be tracked.
FGS 11788
The Architecture of Exoplanetary Systems
Are all planetary systems coplanar? Concordance cosmogony makes that prediction. It is, however, a prediction of extrasolar planetary system architecture as yet untested by direct observation for main sequence stars other than the Sun. To provide such a test, we propose to carry out FGS astrometric studies on four stars hosting seven companions. Our understanding of the planet formation process will grow as we match not only system architecture, but formed planet mass and true distance from the primary with host star characteristics for a wide variety of host stars and exoplanet masses.
We propose that a series of FGS astrometric observations with demonstrated 1 millisecond of arc per-observation precision can establish the degree of coplanarity and component true masses for four extrasolar systems: HD 202206 (brown dwarf+planet); HD 128311 (planet+planet), HD 160691 = mu Arae (planet+planet), and HD 222404AB = gamma Cephei (planet+star). In each case the companion is identified as such by assuming that the minimum mass is the actual mass. For the last target, a known stellar binary system, the companion orbit is stable only if coplanar with the AB binary orbit.
STIS/CCD 11844
CCD Dark Monitor Part 1
The purpose of this proposal is to monitor the darks for the STIS CCD.
STIS/CCD 11846
CCD Bias Monitor-Part 1
The purpose of this proposal is 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.
STIS/CCD 11853
Cycle 17 STIS CCD Imaging Flats
This program periodically monitors the STIS CCD imaging mode flat fields by using the tungsten lamps.
WFC3/ACS/IR 11597
Spectroscopy of IR-Selected Galaxy Clusters at 1 < z < 1.5 We propose to obtain WFC3 G141 and G102 slitless spectroscopy of galaxy clusters at 1 < z < 1.5 that were selected from the IRAC survey of the Bootes NDWFS field. Our IRAC survey contains the largest sample of spectroscopically confirmed clusters at z > 1. The WFC3 grism data will measure H-alpha to determine SFR, and fit models to the low resolution continua to determine stellar population histories for the brighter cluster members, and redshifts for the red galaxies too faint for ground-based optical spectroscopy.
WFC3/IR 11202
The Structure of Early-type Galaxies: 0.1-100 Effective Radii
The structure, formation and evolution of early-type galaxies is still largely an open problem in cosmology: how does the Universe evolve from large linear scales dominated by dark matter to the highly non-linear scales of galaxies, where baryons and dark matter both play important, interacting, roles? To understand the complex physical processes involved in their formation scenario, and why they have the tight scaling relations that we observe today (e.g. the Fundamental Plane), it is critically important not only to understand their stellar structure, but also their dark-matter distribution from the smallest to the largest scales. Over the last three years the SLACS collaboration has developed a toolbox to tackle these issues in a unique and encompassing way by combining new non-parametric strong lensing techniques, stellar dynamics, and most recently weak gravitational lensing, with high-quality Hubble Space Telescope imaging and VLT/Keck spectroscopic data of early-type lens systems. This allows us to break degeneracies that are inherent to each of these techniques separately and probe the mass structure of early-type galaxies from 0.1 to 100 effective radii. The large dynamic range to which lensing is sensitive allows us both to probe the clumpy substructure of these galaxies, as well as their low-density outer haloes. These methods have convincingly been demonstrated, by our team, using smaller pilot-samples of SLACS lens systems with HST data. In this proposal, we request observing time with WFC3 and NICMOS to observe 53 strong lens systems from SLACS, to obtain complete multi-color imaging for each system. This would bring the total number of SLACS lens systems to 87 with completed HST imaging and effectively doubles the known number of galaxy- scale strong lenses. The deep HST images enable us to fully exploit our new techniques, beat down low-number statistics, and probe the structure and evolution of early-type galaxies, not only with a uniform data-set an order of magnitude larger than what is available now, but also with a fully-coherent and self-consistent methodological approach!
WFC3/UVIS 11565
A Search for Astrometric Companions to Very Low-Mass, Population II Stars
We propose to carry out a Snapshot search for astrometric companions in a subsample of very low-mass, halo subdwarfs identified within 120 parsecs of the Sun. These ultra-cool M subdwarfs are local representatives of the lowest-mass H burning objects from the Galactic Population II. The expected 3-4 astrometric doubles that will be discovered will be invaluable in that they will be the first systems from which gravitational masses of metal-poor stars at the bottom of the main sequence can be directly measured.
WFC3/UVIS 11588
Galaxy-Scale Strong Lenses from the CFHTLS Survey
We aim to investigate the origin and evolution of early-type galaxies using gravitational lensing, modeling the mass profiles of objects over a wide range of redshifts. The low redshift (z = 0.2) sample is already in place following the successful HST SLACS survey; we now propose to build up and analyze a sample of comparable size (~50 systems) at high redshift (0.4 < z < 0.9) using HST WFC3 Snapshot observations of lens systems identified by the SL2S collaboration in the CFHT legacy survey. WFC3/UVIS 11594 A WFC3 Grism Survey for Lyman Limit Absorption at z=2 We propose to conduct a spectroscopic survey of Lyman limit absorbers at redshifts 1.8 < z < 2.5, using WFC3 and the G280 grism. This proposal intends to complete an approved Cycle 15 SNAP program (10878), which was cut short due to the ACS failure. We have selected 64 quasars at 2.3 < z < 2.6 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Spectroscopic Quasar Sample, for which no BAL signature is found at the QSO redshift and no strong metal absorption lines are present at z > 2.3 along the lines of sight. The survey has three main
observational goals. First, we will determine the redshift frequency dn/dz of the LLS over the column density range 16.0 < log(NHI) < 20.3 cm^-2. Second, we will measure the column density frequency distribution f(N) for the partial Lyman limit systems (PLLS) over the column density range 16.0 < log(NHI) < 17.5 cm^-2. Third, we will identify those sightlines which could provide a measurement of the primordial D/H ratio. By carrying out this survey, we can also help place meaningful constraints on two key quantities of cosmological relevance. First, we will estimate the amount of metals in the LLS using the f(N), and ground based observations of metal line transitions. Second, by determining f(N) of the PLLS, we can constrain the amplitude of the ionizing UV background at z~2 to a greater precision. This survey is ideal for a snapshot observing program, because the on-object integration times are all well below 30 minutes, and follow-up observations from the ground require minimal telescope time due to the QSO sample being bright. WFC3/UVIS 11697 Proper Motion Survey of Classical and SDSS Local Group Dwarf Galaxies Using the superior resolution of HST, we propose to continue our proper motion survey of Galactic dwarf galaxies. The target galaxies include one classical dwarf, Leo II, and six that were recently identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey data: Bootes I, Canes Venatici I, Canes Venatici II, Coma Berenices, Leo IV, and Ursa Major II. We will observe a total of 16 fields, each centered on a spectroscopically-confirmed QSO. Using QSOs as standards of rest in measuring absolute proper motions has proven to be the most accurate and most efficient method. HST is our only option to quickly determine the space motions of the SDSS dwarfs because suitable ground-based imaging is only a few years old and such data need several decades to produce a proper motion. The two most distant galaxies in our sample will require time baselines of four years to achieve our goal of a 30-50 km/s uncertainty in the tangential velocity; given this and the finite lifetime of HST, it is imperative that first-epoch observations be taken in this cycle. The SDSS dwarfs have dramatically lower surface brightnesses and luminosities than the classical dwarfs. Proper motions are crucial for determining orbits of the galaxies and knowing the orbits will allow us to test theories for the formation and evolution of these galaxies and, more generally, for the formation of the Local Group. WFC3/UVIS 11732 The Temperature Profiles of Quasar Accretion Disks We can now routinely measure the size of quasar accretion disks using gravitational microlensing of lensed quasars. At optical wavelengths we observe a size and scaling with black hole mass roughly consistent with thin disk theory but the sizes are larger than expected from the observed optical fluxes. One solution would be to use a flatter temperature profile, which we can study by measuring the wavelength dependence of the disk size over the largest possible wavelength baseline. Thus, to understand the size discrepancy and to probe closer to the inner edge of the disk we need to extend our measurements to UV wavelengths, and this can only be done with HST. For example, in the UV we should see significant changes in the optical/UV size ratio with black hole mass. We propose monitoring 5 lenses spanning a broad range of black hole masses with well-sampled ground based light curves, optical disk size measurements and known GALEX UV fluxes during Cycles 17 and 18 to expand from our current sample of two lenses. We would obtain 5 observations of each target in each Cycle, similar to our successful strategy for the first two targets. WFC3/UVIS 11905 WFC3 UVIS CCD Daily Monitor The behavior of the WFC3 UVIS CCD will be monitored daily with a set of full-frame, four-amp bias and dark frames. A smaller set of 2Kx4K subarray biases are acquired at less frequent intervals throughout the cycle to support subarray science observations. The internals from this proposal, along with those from the anneal procedure (Proposal 11909), will be used to generate the necessary superbias and superdark reference files for the calibration pipeline (CDBS). 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 10 10
FGS REAcq 8 8
OBAD with Maneuver 8 8
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)
