HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE DAILY REPORT # 3172 PERIOD COVERED: DOY 217 OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED (see HSTARS below for possible observation problems) NICMOS 8790 NICMOS Post-SAA calibration - CR Persistence Part 1. 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. STIS/CCD 8902 Dark Monitor-Part 2. The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to monitor the darks. STIS/CCD 8904 Bias Monitor-Part 2. The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to monitor the bias in the 1x1, 1x2, 2x1, and 2x2 bin settings at gain=1, and 1x1 at gain = 4 in order to build up high-S/N superbiases and track the evolution of hot columns. STIS/CCD 8905 Read Noise Monitor. {A, B, C, D} on the STIS CCD using pairs of bias frames. Full frame and binned observations are made in both Gain 1 and Gain 4, with binning factors of 1x1, 1x2, 2x1 and 2x2. All exposures are internals. STIS/CCD 8907 Spectroscopic Flats C10. The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to obtain CCD flats in the spectrographic mode. STIS/MA1/MA2 8920 Cycle 10 MAMA Dark Measurements. The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (MA1 and MA2) was used to perform the routine monitoring of the MAMA detector dark noise, and is the primary means of checking on health of the MAMA detectors systems through frequent monitoring of the background count rate. WFPC2 8934 WFPC2 Decontaminations and Associated Observations Pt. 3/3 photometric stability check, focus monitor, pre- and post-decon internals {bias, intflats, kspots, & darks}, UV throughput check, VISFLAT sweep, and internal UV flat check. WFPC2 8938 WFPC2 CYCLE 9 SUPPLEMENTAL DARKS pt3/3. This dark calibration program obtains 3 dark frames every day to provide data for monitoring and characterizing the evolution of hot pixels. WF/PC-2 8939 Cycle 10 Internal Monitor. The WF/PC-2 was used to calibrate the internal monitor, to be run weekly to monitor the health of the cameras. ACS 9300 Starburst Galaxies and Their Population of Super Star Clusters Starbursts are ideally suited to study the evolution of high mass stars, the physics of star formation, and the chemical enrichment of the intergalactic medium {IGM}. Starbursts efficiently form Super Star Clusters {SSC} which may be young protoglobular clusters. High resolution imaging will address two important outstanding issues: 1} how long starbursts last and 2} whether SSCs are indeed young globular clusters. The duration of starbursts is important because: {1} it determines how efficiently a starburst can heat and enrich the IGM; {2} the duration combined with estimates of the fraction of galaxies which host starbursts yields the total number of starbursts a galaxy can suffer. Finally, since local starbursts are analogs to high-z galaxies, the results have implications on the initial formation timescale of galaxies. Starburst duration will be determined from HRC imaging of two face-on starburst galaxies rich in SSCs. The UV to optical colors of the SSCs, which represent single burst chronometers, will yield their reddening and ages. The range of ages gives the starburst duration. The nature of SSCs will be investigated by imaging four of the nearest starbursts in 3 bands. By comparing the sizes of their SSCs at different wavelengths we will address the issue of whether SSCs suffer from early mass segregation. Without some mass segregation the velocity dispersions of SSCs suggest that they are deficient in low mass stars, and hence may not represent true proto-globular clusters. STIS/CCD 9317 Pure Parallel Imaging Program: Cycle 10. The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (CCD) was used to perform the default archival pure parallel program for STIS during cycle 10. NICMOS 9321 Dark current, shading profile, and read noise monitoring program The purpose of this proposal is to monitor the detector dark current, read noise, and shading profile for all three NICMOS cameras from the onset of normal NCS operations throughout the start of Cycle 11. WFPC2/FGS 9332 WFPC2 Observations of Astrophysically Important Visual Binaries This is a continuation of a Cycle 7-8-9 Long-Term project. The program consists of annual or biannual WFPC2 or FGS observations of three visual binary stars that will ultimately yield fundamental astrophysical results, once their orbits and masses are determined. Our targets are the following: {1} Procyon {P=41 yr}, for which our first WFPC2 images yielded an extremely accurate angular separation of the bright F star and its very faint white-dwarf companion. Combined with ground-based astrometry of the bright star, our observation significantly revised downward the derived masses, and brought Procyon A into excellent agreement with theoretical evolutionary tracks for the first time. The mass of Procyon B, however, implies a completely unexpected chemical composition for the white dwarf, and now poses a sharp evolutionary puzzle. With the continued monitoring proposed here, we will obtain masses to an accuracy of better than 1%, providing a testbed for theories of Sun-like stars and white dwarfs. {2} G 107-70, a close double white dwarf {P=19 yr} that promises to add two accurate masses to the tiny handful of white-dwarf masses that are directly known from dynamical measurements. {3} Mu Cas {P=21 yr}, a famous metal-deficient G dwarf for which accurate masses will lead to the stars' helium contents, with cosmological implications. GO 9344 The Asymmetric Atmosphere of Uranus We propose to image Uranus as the planet plunges toward equinox in 2007. Recent HST images during this unique epoch {6818: Hammel, Lockwood, and Rages; 7429: Tomasko and Karkoschka; 7885: Hammel, Karkoschka, and Marley} have revealed: {i} strongly wavelength-dependent latitudinal structure, {ii} the presence of numerous visible-wavelength cloud features in the northern hemisphere, {iii} zonal winds which may deviate from the smooth profile implied by the Voyager observations in 1986, and, {iv} in the near-IR, discrete features northward of +25 degs that have the highest contrast ever seen for a Uranian cloud {Karkoschka 1998, Science 393, 765-767; Hammel et al. 2001, Icarus 153, 229-235}. Specific scientific issues we will address with new observations are: whether the northern features are indicative of intrinsic change or result simply from a change of viewing angle; the shape and stability of the zonal wind profile; and the source of the as-yet unexplained variations of the atmospheric reflectivity. When possible, observations will be coordinated with ground-based imaging, spectroscopy, and photometry. This period approaching equinox is the first opportunity {in the era of modern instrumentation} to examine the far regions of the northern hemisphere on Uranus. ACS 9425 The Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey: Imaging with ACS We propose a Treasury program of ACS imaging as part of the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey {GOODS}, covering 320{square}', or 32* the area of the two original WFPC2 HDFs, to within 0.5--0.8 mag of their depth in four ACS bands, BViz. The two GOODS fields, the Hubble Deep Field North and Chandra Deep Field South, are the premier deep survey areas from X-- ray to radio wavelengths. ACS data will provide unique angular resolution, sensitivity, and wavelength coverage to close the gap between the deepest Chandra and SIRTF observations. Supported by extensive imaging and spectroscopy from the VLT, Keck, Subaru, NOAO, Gemini, VLA, JCMT, and other facilities, the combined GOODS data set will make it possible to map the evolution of the Hubble sequence with redshift, reconstruct the history of galaxy mass assembly, star formation and nuclear activity from the epoch of reionization to the present, trace the growth of density perturbations via cosmic shear, and, with properly phased z--band observations, detect ~ 12 Type Ia supernovae at 1.2= 10^15 cm^-2} LyAlpha absorbers in the local Universe {z <= 0.45}. Many more of these high column density systems are needed because: {1} They contribute most of the baryons to the local IGM; {2} They include systems for which valuable metallicity and D/H measurements can be made with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph {COS}; {3} They include many of the ``warm-hot'' absorbers, thought to be a large baryon reservoir in the local Universe; and {4} They are most likely to be ``associated'' with galaxy halos. Because of their low-z, many of these absorbers can be located relative to galaxies of known redshifts, allowing an immediate scientific return from these snapshots. Perhaps the most important, lasting results of this survey require higher resolution reobservations with COS by our GTO team. Using these snapshots to select the best targets, we will obtain COS R~22, 000 spectra to determine the D/H and metallicity of absorbers in galaxy halos, groups, and voids. We will use pairs and ``constellations'' of AGN to determine absorber sizes, shapes, and covering factors. Candidate ``warm-hot'' absorbers will be reobserved with COS to determine their numbers accurately and to assess their metallicity, sizes, and relationships to galaxies and galaxy groups. ACS/CAL 9558 ACS weekly Test This program consists of basic tests to monitor, the read noise, the development of hot pixels and test for any source of noise in ACS CCD detectors. This programme will be executed once a day for the entire lifetime of ACS. ACS 9564 ACS Cycle 11: UV Earth Flats chosen for modes which were not obtained in the lab. Since the UV transmission is likely to vary as a function of position on the Pol_UV filters and on the coronograph, and since this behavior is currently unconstrained by measurement, a good estimate for the missing UV flats cannot be made. Although POL_UV and CORON transmissions change little at long wavelengths, the UV transmission may change by amounts larger than can be estimated in the absence of actual UV transmission measurements WFPC2 9596 WFPC2 CYCLE 11 INTERNAL MONITOR This calibration proposal is the Cycle 11 routine internal monitor for WFPC2, to be run weekly to monitor the health of the cameras. A variety of internal exposures are obtained in order to provide a monitor of the integrity of the CCD camera electronics in both bays {gain 7 and gain 15}, a test for quantum efficiency in the CCDs, and a monitor for possible buildup of contaminants on the CCD windows. WFPC2 9634 POMS Test Proposal: WFII targeted parallel archive proposal The parallel opportunities available with WFPC2 in the neighborhood of bright galaxies are treated in a slightly different way from the normal pure parallels. Local Group galaxies offer the opportunity for a closer look at young stellar populations. Narrow-band images in F656N can be used both to identify young stars via their emission lines, and to map the gas distribution in star-forming regions. Thus, the filter F656N is added to the four standard filters. Near more distant galaxies, up to about 10 Mpc, we can map the population of globular clusters; for this purpose, F300W is less useful, and only F450W, F606W, and F814W will be used. NICMOS 9641 Dark Generator Tool Test This program will test the NICMOS Dark Generator Tool by obtaining dark frames that probe MULTIACCUM sequences not usually observed during the dark monitoring programs. ACS 9672 Grism/Prism Calibration A Planetary Nebula in the LMC and two Galactic White Dwarfs are observed through the prisms of the HRC and the SBC to measure: 1} the dispersion of the prisms and its field dependence; 2} the prisms throughput and its field dependence. Therefore, these measurements will be carried out at several positions on the chip including the centre and the corners of the HRC and SBC chips. FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY: HSTARS: (For details see http://hst-sers.hst.nasa.gov/SERS/HST/HSTAR.nsf) HSTARS: None COMPLETED OPS REQs: None OPS NOTES EXECUTED: 1004-2 Update Pressure-Based Battery Capacity Equations 0900-1 COMMAND PROBLEM SCHEDULED SUCCESSFUL FAILURE TIMES FGS GSacq 13 13 FGS REacq 4 4 FHST Update 30 30 LOSS of LOCK Operations Notes: 1. The portion of the SSR Engineering dump at 217/2134z affected by WSC weather was retransmitted (successfully) at 217/2247z, recovering all data lost during the 2134z dump due to weather. The redump may partly overlap the original dump. (Reference CDS # 31258) 2. OR # 16146-2 (WFPC2 Safing) has was cancelled by the SI System Engineering @ 217/17:20:25z. 3. ESB code 103 is Block load interrupted a block load" due to the command dropout on day 218 (CDS # 30839). SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: Successfully completed On-Line Data Archive testing 217/11:00Z - 13:55Z. System was not re-cycled from the Load Test that was conducted over the weekend and the CCS_Timemode was in "CCSTIME". String need to be re-cycled to have the CCSTIME = "SCTTIME" to get the proper plots and real-time, recorded and merged data. HST On-Orbit Checkout of real-time WSC interface scheduled daily 217 - 224 with GDOC, STOCC Ops (SIMOR), HITT, and CCS using CCS "G" String with CCS Release 4.0.1 and PRD D06100R2. The purpose of this testing is to verify CCS Release 4.0.1 (IP) capability to interface through the IP Packet Filters to WSC for real-time telemetry and commands. HST Over Voltage Protection testing scheduled 249/11:00Z - 250/04:00Z with GDOC, HITT, SE, and VEST using CCS "C" String with CCS Release 4.0.1 and PRD 06100R2. HST CCS 4.0.1 Ops Readiness ESTR/SSR Operations test scheduled 218/16:00Z - 22:00Z with GDOC, SOC, HITT, DMS, STScI, and CCS using CCS "B" String with CCS Release 4.0.1 and PRD D06100R2. The purpose of this testing is to verify CCS Release 4.0.1 (IP) is capable of routine operations procedures and support for ESTR/SSR routine recorder and playback management. The portion of the SSR engineering dump 217/2134z affected by WSC weather was retransmitted successfully @ 217/22:47z, recovering all data lost during the 2134z dump due to weather. The re-dump may partly overlap the original dump (reference CDS 31258).