NASA Hubble Space Telescope Daily Status Report #4200
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE DAILY REPORT # 4200 – Continuing to collect World Class Science ]
PERIOD COVERED: UT September X15,16,17, 2006 (DOY 258,259,260)
OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED
NIC1/NIC2/NIC3 8793
NICMOS Post-SAA calibration – CR Persistence Part 4
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.
FGS 10989
Astrometric Masses of Extrasolar Planets and Brown Dwarfs
We propose observations with HST/FGS to estimate the astrometric elements {perturbation orbit semi-major axis and inclination} of extra-solar planets orbiting six stars. These companions were originally detected by radial velocity techniques. We have demonstrated that FGS astrometry of even a short segment of reflex motion, when combined with extensive radial velocity information, can yield useful inclination information {McArthur et al. 2004}, allowing us to determine companion masses. Extrasolar planet masses assist in two ongoing research frontiers. First, they provide useful boundary conditions for models of planetary formation and evolution of planetary systems. Second, knowing that a star in fact has a plantary mass companion, increases the value of that system to future extrasolar planet observation missions such as SIM PlanetQuest, TPF, and GAIA.
WFPC2 10915
ACS Nearby Galaxy Survey
Existing HST observations of nearby galaxies comprise a sparse and highly non-uniform archive, making comprehensive comparative studies among galaxies essentially impossible. We propose to secure HST’s lasting impact on the study of nearby galaxies by undertaking a systematic, complete, and carefully crafted imaging survey of ALL galaxies in the Local Universe outside the Local Group. The resulting images will allow unprecedented measurements of: {1} the star formation history {SFH} of a >100 Mpc^3 volume of the Universe with a time resolution of Delta[log{t}]=0.25; {2} correlations between spatially resolved SFHs and environment; {3} the structure and properties of thick disks and stellar halos; and {4} the color distributions, sizes, and specific frequencies of globular and disk clusters as a function of galaxy mass and environment. To reach these goals, we will use a combination of wide-field tiling and pointed deep imaging to obtain uniform data on all 72 galaxies within a volume-limited sample extending to ~3.5 Mpc, with an extension to the M81 group. For each galaxy, the wide-field imaging will cover out to ~1.5 times the optical radius and will reach photometric depths of at least 2 magnitudes below the tip of the red giant branch throughout the limits of the survey volume. One additional deep pointing per galaxy will reach SNR~10 for red clump stars, sufficient to recover the ancient SFH from the color-magnitude diagram. This proposal will produce photometric information for ~100 million stars {comparable to the number in the SDSS survey} and uniform multi-color images of half a square degree of sky. The resulting archive will establish the fundamental optical database for nearby galaxies, in preparation for the shift of high-resolution imaging to the near-infrared.
ACS/HRC 10909
Exploring the diversity of cosmic explosions: The supernovae of gamma-ray bursts
While the connection between gamma-ray bursts {GRBs} and supernovae {SNe} is now clearly established, there is a large variety of observational properties among these SNe and the physical parameters of these explosions are poorly known. As part of a comprehensive program, we propose to use HST in order to obtain basic information about the supernovae associated with gamma-ray bursts. HST offers the means to cleanly separate the light curves of the GRB afterglow from the supernova, and to remove the contamination from the host galaxy, opening a clear route to the fundamental parameters of the SN. From these observations, we will determine the absolute magnitude at maximum, the shape of the spectral energy distribution, and any change over time of the energy distribution. We will also measure the rate of decay of the exponential tail. Merged with the ground-based data that we will obtain for each event, we will be able to compare our data set to models and constrain the energy of the explosion, the mass of the ejecta and the mass of Nickel synthesized during the explosion. These results will shed light on the apparent variety of supernovae associated with gamma-ray bursts and X-ray flashes, and on the relation between these SNe and other, more common varieties of core- collapse explosions.
NIC1 10889
The Nature of the Halos and Thick Disks of Spiral Galaxies
We propose to resolve the extra-planar stellar populations of the thick disks and halos of seven nearby, massive, edge-on galaxies using ACS, NICMOS, and WFPC2 in parallel. These observations will provide accurate star counts and color-magnitude diagrams 1.5 magnitudes below the tip of the Red Giant Branch sampled along the two principal axes and one intermediate axis of each galaxy. We will measure the metallicity distribution functions and stellar density profiles from star counts down to very low average surface brightnesses, equivalent to ~32 V- mag per square arcsec. These observations will provide the definitive HST study of extra-planar stellar populations of spiral galaxies. Our targets cover a range in galaxy mass, luminosity, and morphology and as function of these galaxy properties we will provide: – The first systematic study of the radial and isophotal shapes of the diffuse stellar halos of spiral galaxies – The most detailed comparative study to date of thick disk morphologies and stellar populations – A comprehensive analysis of halo and thick disk metallicity distributions as a function of galaxy type and position within the galaxy. – A sensitive search for tidal streams – The first opportunity to directly relate globular cluster systems to their field stellar population We will use these fossil records of the galaxy assembly process preserved in the old stellar populations to test halo and thick disk formation models within the hierarchical galaxy formation scheme. We will test LambdaCDM predictions on sub-galactic scales, where it is difficult to test using CMB and galaxy redshift surveys, and where it faces its most serious difficulties.
ACS/WFC 10886
The Sloan Lens ACS Survey: Towards 100 New Strong Lenses
As a continuation of the highly successful Sloan Lens ACS {SLACS} Survey for new strong gravitational lenses, we propose one orbit of ACS-WFC F814W imaging for each of 50 high- probability strong galaxy-galaxy lens candidates. These observations will confirm new lens systems and permit immediate and accurate photometry, shape measurement, and mass modeling of the lens galaxies. The lenses delivered by the SLACS Survey all show extended source structure, furnishing more constraints on the projected lens potential than lensed-quasar image positions. In addition, SLACS lenses have lens galaxies that are much brighter than their lensed sources, facilitating detailed photometric and dynamical observation of the former. When confirmed lenses from this proposal are combined with lenses discovered by SLACS in Cycles 13 and 14, we expect the final SLACS lens sample to number 80–100: an approximate doubling of the number of known galaxy-scale strong gravitational lenses and an order-of-magnitude increase in the number of optical Einstein rings. By virtue of its homogeneous selection and sheer size, the SLACS sample will allow an unprecedented exploration of the mass structure of the early-type galaxy population as a function of all other observable quantities. This new sample will be a valuable resource to the astronomical community by enabling qualitatively new strong lensing science, and as such we will waive all but a short {3-month} proprietary period on the observations.
ACS/WFC 10882
Emission Line Snapshots of 3CR Radio Galaxies
Radio galaxies are an important class of extragalactic objects: they are one of the most energetic astrophysical phenomena and they provide an exceptional probe of the evolving Universe, lying typically in high density regions but well-represented across a wide redshift range. In earlier Cycles we carried out extensive HST observations of the 3CR sources in order to acquire a complete and quantitative inventory of the structure, contents and evolution of these important objects. We discovered new optical jets, dust lanes, and revealed point-like nuclei whose properties support AGN unified schemes. Here, we propose to obtain ACS emission line images at low and high excitation of 3CR sources with z<0.3, both low- and classical high- power radio galaxies, as a major enhancement to an already superb dataset. We aim to probe fundamental relationships between warm optical line-emitting gas, radio source structure {jets and lobes} and X-ray coronal halos. We will combine our existing UV images with new emission- line images to establish quantitative star formation characteristics and their relation to dust and merging, and with emission-line excitation maps, test theories on ionization beam patterns and luminosities from active nuclei. We will seek jet induced star formation and knowing optical emission-line physics, investigate quantitative jet physics. The nuclear emission line properties of the galaxies will themselves be established and used as ingredients in continuing tests of unified AGN theories. The resulting database will be an incredibly valuable resource to the astronomical community for years to come.
ACS/WFC 10880
The host galaxies of QSO2s: AGN feeding and evolution at high luminosities
Now that the presence of supermassive black holes in the nuclei of galaxies is a well established fact, other questions related to the AGN phenomena still have to be answered. Problems of particular interest are how the AGN gets fed, how the black hole evolves and how the evolution of the black hole is related to the evolution of the galaxy bulge. Here we propose to address some of these issues using ACS/WFC + F775W snapshot images of 73 QSO2s with redshifts in the range 0.3 < z <0.4. These observations will be combined with similar archival data of QSO1s and ground based data of Seyfert and normal galaxies. First, we will intestigate whether interactions are the most important feeding mechanism in high luminosity AGNs. This will be done in a quantitative way, comparing the asymmetry indices of QSO2 hosts with those of lower luminosity AGNs and normal galaxies. Second, we will do a detailed study of the morphology of the host galaxies of both QSO types, to determine if they are similar, or if there is an evolutionary trend from QSO2s to QSO1s. The results from this project will represent an important step in the understanding of AGN evolution, and may also introduce a substantial modification to the Unified Model.
ACS/HRC 10878
An ACS Prism Snapshot Survey for z~2 Lyman Limit Systems
We propose to conduct a spectroscopic survey of Lyman limit absorbers at redshifts 1.7 < z < 2.2, using ACS/HRC and the PR200L prism. We have selected 100 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 16.3 < log N_HI < 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 16.3 < log N_HI < 17.5 cm^-2. Third, we will identify new sightlines for measurements of the primordial D/H ratio. With this survey, we will also constrain two key quantities of cosmological relevance: First, the measurements of dN/dz for optically thick LLS and f{N} for the PLLS are critical to estimating the attenuation of extragalactic ionizing sources {e.g. QSOs}. Currently, uncertainties in dN/dz and f{N} are the greatest sources of uncertainty for inferring the shape and intensity of the UV background radiation field. Second, we will estimate the amount of metals in the LLS using the f{N} and ground based observations of metal line transitions. It is possible that a significant fraction of the "missing metals" at z~2 are associated with these highly ionized absorbers. Third, analysis of the LLS lends to investigations of the interface between galaxies {i.e. the damped Lyman alpha systems} and the intergalactic medium {i.e. the Lyman alpha forest}. This survey is ideal for a snapshot observing program, because the on-object integration times are less than 10 minutes, and the targets cover the majority of the northern sky.
NIC2 10852
Coronagraphic Polarimetry with NICMOS: Dust grain evolution in T Tauri stars
The formation of planetary systems is intimately linked to the dust population in circumstellar disks, thus understanding dust grain evolution is essential to advancing our understanding of how planets form. By combining {1} the coronagraphic polarimetry capabilities of NICMOS, {2} powerful 3-D radiative transfer codes, and {3} observations of objects known to span the Class II-III stellar evolutionary phases, we will gain crucial insight into dust grain growth. By observing objects representative of a known evolutionary sequence of YSOs, we will be able to investigate how the dust population evolves in size and distribution during the crucial transition from a star+disk system to a system containing planetesimals. When combine with our previous study on dust grain evolution in the Class I-II phase, the proposed study will help to establish the fundamental time scales for the depletion of ISM-like grains: the first step in understanding the transformation from small submicron sized dust grains, to large millimeter sized grains, and untimely to planetary bodies.
NIC2 10847
Coronagraphic Polarimetry of HST-Resolved Debris Disks
We propose to take full advantage of the recently commissioned coronagraphic polarimetry modes of ACS and NICMOS to obtain imaging polarimetry of circumstellar debris disks that were imaged previously by the HST coronagraphs, but without the polarizers. It is well established that stars form in gas-rich protostellar disks, and that the planets of our solar system formed from a circum-solar disk. However, the connection between the circumstellar disks that we observe around other stars and the processes of planet formation is still very uncertain. Mid-IR spectral studies have suggested that disk grains are growing in the environments of young stellar objects during the putative planet-formation epoch. Furthermore, structures revealed in well resolved images of circumstellar disks suggest gravitational influences on the disks from co-orbital bodies of planetary mass. Unfortunately, existing imaging data provides only rudimentary information abou the disk grains and their environments. Our proposed observations, which can be obtained only with HST, will enable us to quantitatively determine the sizes of the grains and optical depths as functions of their location within the disks {i.e., detailed tomography}. Armed with these well-determine physical and geometrical systemic parameters, we will develop a set of self-consistent models of disk structures to investigate possible interactions between unseen planets and the disks from which they formed. Our results will also calibrate models of the thermal emission from these disks, that will in turn enable us to infer the properties of other debris disks that cannot be spatially resolved with current or planned instruments and telescopes.
ACS/WFC 10829
Secular Evolution at the End of the Hubble Sequence
The bulgeless disk galaxies at the end of the Hubble Sequence evolve at a glacial pace relative to their more violent, earlier-type cousins. The causes of their internal, or secular evolution are important because secular evolution represents the future fate of all galaxies in our accelerating Universe and is a key ingredient to understanding galaxy evolution in lower-density environments at present. The rate of secular evolution is largely determined by the stability of the cold ISM against collapse, star formation, and the buildup of a central bulge. Key diagnostics of the ISM’s stability are the presence of compact molecular clouds and narrow dust lanes. Surprisingly, edge-on, pure disk galaxies with circular velocities below 120 km/s do not appear to contain such dust lanes. We propose to obtain ACS/WFC F606W images of a well-selected sample of extremely late-type disk galaxies to measure the characteristic scale size of the cold ISM and determine if they possess the unstable, cold ISM necessary to drive secular evolution. Our sample has been carefully constructed to include disk galaxies above and below the critical circular velocity of 120 km/s where the dust properties of edge-on disks change so remarkably. We will then use surface brightness profiles to search for nuclear star clusters and pseudobulges, which are early indicators that secular evolution is at work, as well as measure the pitch angle of the dust lanes as a function of radius to estimate the central mass concentrations.
ACS/HRC/WFC 10758
ACS CCDs daily monitor
This program consists of a set of basic tests to monitor, the read noise, the development of hot pixels and test for any source of noise in ACS CCD detectors. The files, biases and dark will be used to create reference files for science calibration. This programme will be for the entire lifetime of ACS. Changes from cycle 13:- The default gain for WFC is 2 e-/DN. As before bias frames will be collected for both gain 1 and gain 2. Dark frames are acquired using the default gain {2}. This program cover the period May, 31 2006- Oct, 1-2006. The first half of the program has a different proposal number: 10729.
NIC1 10725
Photometric Stability
This NICMOS calibration proposal carries out photometric monitoring observations during Cycle 14. The format of the program is similar to that of the Cycle 12 program 9995 and Cycle 13 program 10381, but a few modifications were made. Provisions had to be made to adopt to 2- gyro mode {G191B2B was added as extra target to provide target visibility through most of the year}. Where before 4 or 7 dithers were made in a filter before we moved to the next filter, now we observe all filters at one position before moving to the next dither position. While the previous method was chosen to minimize the effect of persistence, we now realize that persistence is connected to charge trapping and by moving through the filter such that the count rate increases, we reach equilibrium more quickly between charge being trapped and released. We have also increased exposure times where possible to reduce the charge trapping non-linearity effects.
ACS/WFC/NIC3 10632
Searching for galaxies at z>6.5 in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field
We propose to obtain deep ACS {F606W, F775W, F850LP} imaging in the area of the original Hubble Ultra Deep Field NICMOS parallel fields and – through simultaneous parallel observations – deep NICMOS {F110W, F160W} imaging of the ACS UDF area. Matching the extreme imaging depth in the optical and near-IR bands will result in seven fields with sufficiently sensitive multiband data to detect the expected typical galaxies at z=7 and 8. Presently no such a field exist. Our combined optical and near-IR ultradeep fields will be in three areas separated by about 20 comoving Mpc at z=7. This will allow us to give a first assessment of the degree of cosmic variance. If reionization is a process extending over a large redshift interval and the luminosity function doesn’t evolve strongly beyond z=6, these data will allow us to identify of the order of a dozen galaxies at 6.5 < z < 8.5 - using the Lyman break technique - and to place a first constrain on the luminosity function at z>6.5. Conversely, finding fewer objects would be an indication that the bulk of reionization is done by galaxies at z=6. By spending 204 orbits of prime HST time we will capitalize on the investment of 544 prime orbits already made on the Hubble Ultra Deep Field {UDF}. We have verified that the program as proposed is schedulable and that it will remain so even if forced to execute in the 2-gyro mode. The data will be non-proprietary and the reduced images will be made public within 2 months from the completion of the observations.
ACS/HRC 10508
Orbits, Masses, and Densities of Three Transneptunian Binaries
The subset of transneptunian objects {TNOs} having natural satellites offers unique opportunities for physical studies of these distant relics from the outer parts of the protoplanetary nebula. HST/ACS is ideally suited to determining orbits of TNO satellites, resulting in the system masses. In conjunction with thermal emission observations by Spitzer, which provides sizes, we can determine the densities of TNOs. Densities offer a powerful window into their bulk compositions and interior structures.
ACS/WFC/NIC2 10496
Decelerating and Dustfree: Efficient Dark Energy Studies with Supernovae and Clusters
We propose a novel HST approach to obtain a dramatically more useful “dust free” Type Ia supernovae {SNe Ia} dataset than available with the previous GOODS searches. Moreover, this approach provides a strikingly more efficient search-and-follow-up that is primarily pre- scheduled. The resulting dark energy measurements do not share the major systematic uncertainty at these redshifts, that of the extinction correction with a prior. By targeting massive galaxy clusters at z > 1 we obtain a five-times higher efficiency in detection of Type Ia supernovae in ellipticals, providing a well-understood host galaxy environment. These same deep cluster images then also yield fundamental calibrations required for future weak lensing and Sunyaev-Zel’dovich measurements of dark energy, as well as an entire program of cluster studies. The data will make possible a factor of two improvement on supernova constraints on dark energy time variation, and much larger improvement in systematic uncertainty. They will provide both a cluster dataset and a SN Ia dataset that will be a longstanding scientific resource.
ACS/WFC 10494
Imaging the mass structure of distant lens galaxies
The surface brightness distribution of extended gravitationally lensed arcs and Einstein rings contains super-resolved information about the lensed object, and, more excitingly, about the smooth and clumpy mass distribution of the lens galaxies. The source and lens information can non-parametrically be separated, resulting in a direct “gravitational-mass image” of the inner mass-distribution of cosmologically-distant galaxies {Koopmans 2005}. With this goal in mind, we propose deep HST ACS-F555W/F814W and NICMOS-F160W imaging of 15 gravitational-lens systems with spatially resolved lensed sources, selected from the 17 new lens systems discovered by the Sloan Lens ACS Survey {Bolton et al. 2004}. Each system has been selected from the SDSS and confirmed in a time-efficient HST-ACS snapshot program {cycle-13}; they show highly-magnified arcs or Einstein rings, lensed by a massive early-type lens galaxy. High- fidelity multi-color HST images are required {not delivered by the 420-sec snapshot images} to isolate these lensed images {properly cleaned, dithered and extinction-corrected} from the lens galaxy surface brightness distribution, and apply our “gravitational-mass imaging” technique. The sample of galaxy mass distributions – determined through this method from the arcs and Einstein ring HST images – will be studied to: {i} measure the smooth mass distribution of the lens galaxies {Dark and luminous mass are separated using the HST images and the stellar M/L values derived from a joint stellar-dynamical analysis of each system}; {ii} quantify statistically and individually the incidence of mass-substructure {with or without obvious luminous counter- parts such as dwarf galaxies}. Since dark-matter substructure should be considerably more prevalent at higher redshift, both results provide a direct test of this prediction of the CDM hierarchical structure-formation model.
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 28 28
FGS REacq 14 14
OBAD with Maneuver 82 82
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: (None)
