NASA Hubble Space Telescope Daily Report #5156
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE DAILY REPORT #5156
Continuing to Collect World Class Science
PERIOD COVERED: 5am August 9 – 5am August 10, 2010 (DOY 221/09:00z-222/09:00z)
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 7 7
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)
OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED
ACS/WFC 11996
CCD Daily Monitor (Part 3)
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 308 orbits (19.25 weeks) from 21 June 2010 to 1 November 2010.
ACS/WFC3 11735
The LSD Project: Dynamics, Merging and Stellar Populations of a Sample of Well-Studied LBGs at z~3
A large observational effort with the ground-based ESO/VLT telescopes allowed us to obtain deep, spatially-resolved, near-IR spectra of complete sample of 11 Lyman-Break Galaxies at z~3.1. These observations were used to obtain, for the first time, the metallicity and the dynamical properties of a sample of objects that, albeit small, is representative of the total population of the LBGs. We propose to use HST to obtain high-resolution optical and near-IR images of this sample of LBGs in order to study the broad-band morphology and the stellar light distribution of these galaxies. These images, exploiting the superior spatial resolution of HST images and the low-background : 1- will allow a precise measure of the dynamical mass from the velocity field derived with spectroscopy; 2- will permit a comparison of the distribution of star formation (from the line emission) with the underlying stellar population, and, 3- will be used to check if the complex velocity field and the multiple line-emitting regions detected in most targets can be ascribed to on-going mergers. This accurate study will shed light on a number of unsolved problems still affecting the knowledge of the LBGs.
COS/FUV 11895
FUV Detector Dark Monitor
Monitor the FUV detector dark rate by taking long science exposures without illuminating 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.
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.
COS/NUV 11896
NUV Spectroscopic Sensitivity Monitoring
The purpose of this proposal is to monitor sensitivity of each NUV grating mode to detect any changes due to contamination or other causes.
COS/NUV 12052
COS NUV Grating Efficiency Test
We will perform two more grating efficiency tests to enable better comparison of results of grating efficiency tests done on the ground with external target spectroscopic sensitivity monitoring on orbit.
The GETS contains 10 NUV exposures designed to get the same S/N of various emission lines throughout the NUV band. The sequence and duration of exposures in this NUV GET are the same as used by the IDT on the ground from 2004-2009 to monitor the relative efficiencies of the NUV gratings. The sequence starts with a 20-minute wait, to ensure that the lamp has cooled from any usage in a previous visit.
STIS/CC 11845
CCD Dark Monitor Part 2
Monitor the darks for the STIS CCD.
STIS/CC 11847
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 11849
STIS CCD Hot Pixel Annealing
This purpose of this activity is to repair radiation induced hot pixel damage to the STIS CCD by warming the CCD to the ambient instrument temperature and annealing radiation-damaged pixels.
Radiation damage creates hot pixels in the STIS CCD Detector. Many of these hot pixels can be repaired by warming the CCD from its normal operating temperature near -83 deg. C to the ambient instrument temperature (~ +5 deg. C) for several hours. The number of hot pixels repaired is a function of annealing temperature. The effectiveness of the CCD hot pixel annealing process is assessed by measuring the dark current behavior before and after annealing and by searching for any window contamination effects.
STIS/CCD 12228
Probing for Exoplanets Hiding in Dusty Debris Disks: Inner (<10 AU) Disk Imaging, Characterization, and Exploration We propose new visible-light observations of a well-selected sample of circumstellar (CS) debris disks, all with HST pedigree, using STIS PSF-subtracted multi-roll coronagraphic imaging. Our new observations will probe the interior CS regions of these debris systems (with inner working distances of < approximately 8 AU for half the stars in this sample), corresponding to the giant planet and Kuiper belt regions within our own solar system. These new images will enable us to directly inter-compare the architectures of these exoplanetary debris systems in the context of our own Solar System. These observations will also permit us, for the first time, to characterize the material in these regions at high spatial resolution and to look for sub-structures within the disks that are the sign posts of planetary formation and evolution; in particular, asymmetries and non-uniform debris structures signal the presence of co-orbiting perturbing planets. Additionally, all of our objects have been observed previously at longer wavelengths (but much lower spatial resolution and imaging efficacy) with NICMOS, but with an inner working angle comparable to STIS multi-roll coronagraphy. The combination of new optical and existing near-IR imaging will strongly constrain the dust properties, thus enabling an assessment of grain processing and planetesimal populations. These results will directly inform upon the posited planet formation mechanisms that occur after the ~ 10 My epoch of gas depletion, at a time in our solar system when giant planets were migrating and the terrestrial planets were forming, and directly test theoretical models of these processes. The outer reaches (only) of most of these systems were previously observed with a much larger (~ 6x on average), spatially limiting, effective inner working angle of the ACS coronagraph. The previous ACS images are therefore completely inadequate to address our science goals of imaging the inner structures of these CS disks. Our proposed investigation, enabled ONLY with HST STIS visible-light coronagraphy, will uniquely probe into the interior regions of these systems for the first time with spatial resolution comparable to ACS and with augmenting NICMOS near-IR disk photometry in hand. WFC3/ACS/IR 11563 Galaxies at z~7-10 in the Reionization Epoch: Luminosity Functions to <0.2L* from Deep IR Imaging of the HUDF and HUDF05 Fields The first generations of galaxies were assembled around redshifts z~7-10+, just 500-800 Myr after recombination, in the heart of the reionization of the universe. We know very little about galaxies in this period. Despite great effort with HST and other telescopes, less than ~15 galaxies have been reliably detected so far at z>7, contrasting with the ~1000 galaxies detected to date at z~6, just 200-400 Myr later, near the end of the reionization epoch. WFC3 IR can dramatically change this situation, enabling derivation of the galaxy luminosity function and its shape at z~7-8 to well below L*, measurement of the UV luminosity density at z~7-8 and z~8-9, and estimates of the contribution of galaxies to reionization at these epochs, as well as characterization of their properties (sizes, structure, colors). A quantitative leap in our understanding of early galaxies, and the timescales of their buildup, requires a total sample of ~100 galaxies at z~7-8 to ~29 AB mag. We can achieve this with 192 WFC3 IR orbits on three disjoint fields (minimizing cosmic variance): the HUDF and the two nearby deep fields of the HUDF05. Our program uses three WFC3 IR filters, and leverages over 600 orbits of existing ACS data, to identify, with low contamination, a large sample of over 100 objects at z~7-8, a very useful sample of ~23 at z~8-9, and limits at z~10. By careful placement of the WFC3 IR and parallel ACS pointings, we also enhance the optical ACS imaging on the HUDF and a HUDF05 field. We stress (1) the need to go deep, which is paramount to define L*, the shape, and the slope alpha of the luminosity function (LF) at these high redshifts; and (2) the far superior performance of our strategy, compared with the use of strong lensing clusters, in detecting significant samples of faint z~7-8 galaxies to derive their luminosity function and UV ionizing flux. Our recent z~7.4 NICMOS results show that wide-area IR surveys, even of GOODS-like depth, simply do not reach faint enough at z~7-9 to meet the LF and UV flux objectives. In the spirit of the HDF and the HUDF, we will waive any proprietary period, and will also deliver the reduced data to STScI. The proposed data will provide a Legacy resource of great value for a wide range of archival science investigations of galaxies at redshifts z~2-9. The data are likely to remain the deepest IR/optical images until JWST is launched, and will provide sources for spectroscopic follow up by JWST, ALMA and EVLA.
WFC3/IR 11671
Kinematic Reconstruction of the Origin and IMF of the Massive Young Clusters at the Galactic Center
We propose to exploit the wide field capabilities of Wide Field Camera 3 to study star formation at the Galactic center. By studying young stars located in the most physically extreme region of our Galaxy, we can test star formation theories, which suggest that such environments should favor high mass stars and, in extreme cases, should suppress star formation entirely. Specifically, we will measure the proper motions and photometry of stars over the full extent of the three massive young clusters that have been identified at the Galactic Center (Arches, Quintuplet, and the Young Nuclear Star Cluster). These observations are a factor of ?2000 more efficient than what can be done with ground-based adaptive optics. Our goals are two-fold. First, we hope to establish the initial sites of star formation in order to obtain an accurate estimate of the conditions that led to the stellar populations within these clusters. Answering this question for the Young Nuclear Star Cluster is particularly important as it establishes whether or not star formation can indeed proceed within 0.1 pc of our Galaxy’s supermassive black hole. Second, we will measure the IMF in the Arches and Quintuplet, where dynamical evolution is less severe, using proper motions to determine membership and to reveal the tidal radius. Probing how the properties of the emergent stellar populations within our Galaxy may be affected by the physical environment in which they arise is an important first step to understanding how they might vary as a function of cosmic time and thereby affect our models of galaxy formation and evolution.
WFC3/IR 11926
IR Zero Points
We will measure and monitor the zeropoints through the IR filters using observations of the white dwarf standard stars, GD153, GD71 and GD191B2B and the solar analog standard star, P330E. Data will be taken monthly during Cycle 17. Observations of the star cluster, NGC 104, are made twice to check color transformations. We expect an accuracy of 2% in the wide filter zeropoints relative to the HST photometric system, and 5% in the medium- and narrow-band filters.
WFC3/UVIS 11630
Monitoring Active Atmospheres on Uranus and Neptune
We propose Snapshot observations of Uranus and Neptune to monitor changes in their atmospheres on time scales of weeks and months, as we have been doing for the past seven years. Previous Hubble Space Telescope observations (including previous Snapshot programs 8634, 10170, 10534, and 11156), together with near-IR images obtained using adaptive optics on the Keck Telescope, reveal both planets to be dynamic worlds which change on time scales ranging from hours to (terrestrial) years. Uranus equinox occurred in December 2007, and the northern hemisphere is becoming fully visible for the first time since the early 1960s. HST observations during the past several years (Hammel et al. 2005, Icarus 175, 284 and references therein) have revealed strongly wavelength-dependent latitudinal structure, the presence of numerous visible-wavelength cloud features in the northern hemisphere, at least one very long- lived discrete cloud in the southern hemisphere, and in 2006 the first clearly defined dark spot seen on Uranus. Long term ground-based observations (Lockwood and Jerzekiewicz, 2006, Icarus 180, 442; Hammel and Lockwood 2007, Icarus 186, 291) reveal seasonal brightness changes that seem to demand the appearance of a bright northern polar cap within the next few years. Recent HST and Keck observations of Neptune (Sromovsky et al. 2003, Icarus 163, 256 and references therein) show a general increase in activity at south temperate latitudes until 2004, when Neptune returned to a rather Voyager-like appearance with discrete bright spots rather than active latitude bands. Further Snapshot observations of these two dynamic planets will elucidate the nature of long-term changes in their zonal atmospheric bands and clarify the processes of formation, evolution, and dissipation of discrete albedo features.
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).
WFC3/UVIS 11912
UVIS Internal Flats
This proposal will be used to assess the stability of the flat field structure for the UVIS detector throughout the 15 months of Cycle 17. The data will be used to generate on-orbit updates for the delta-flat field reference files used in the WFC3 calibration pipeline, if significant changes in the flat structure are seen.
