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Hubble Space Telescope
COS-GTO Science Programs

Introduction

Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) is a high throughput ultraviolet (UV) spectrograph that was installed on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) during the May 2009, SM4 servicing mission. COS is designed to perform high sensitivity, moderate (R~20,000) and low-resolution spectroscopy of point source objects. COS has two channels: a Far-Ultraviolet channel that is sensitive in the 1150 - 1775 Å wavelength range and a Near-Ultraviolet channel that operates between 1750 - 3200 Å.

The Science Programs

The primary science objectives of the COS Instrument Development Team (IDT) are to study the origins of large scale structure in the Universe, the formation and evolution of galaxies, the origin of stellar and planetary systems, and the cold interstellar medium.

Cycle 19 Program

ID Title & Description Orbits
---- IGM 6
12025 QSO Absorbers, Galaxies and Large-Scale Structures in the Local Universe: Probe the large scale structure of baryons in the universe, including addressing questions of baryon fraction, physical conditions and relationships between absorbers and large-scale structures of galaxies. 6 orbits from visits 21-24

Cycle 18 Programs

ID Title & Description Orbits
---- IGM 131
12038 Cool, Warm and Hot Gas in the Cosmic Web and in Galaxy Halos: Observations of 17 QSOs to study the cool,warm and hot gas in the cosmic web and in galaxy halos. The goal of this program is to obtain the information that will allow an assessment of the baryonic content in the IGM. 46
12033 Studies of the He II Reionization Epoch: Observations of He II absorption will be used as diagnostics of the ionizing sources and radiative transport over large (30-50 Mpc) distances through the IGM 13
12024 Great Wall Tomography: Observe several targets behind the Great Wall, a typical galaxy filament in the Universe, to perform a "cosmic tomography". 11
12025 QSO Absorbers, Galaxies and Large-Scale Structures in the Local Universe: Probe the large scale structure of baryons in the universe, including addressing questions of baryon fraction, physical conditions and relationships between absorbers and large-scale structures of galaxies. 61
---- Star Forming Galaxies 14
12027 Star Formation/Lyman-Alpha: Using a sample of 20 star-forming galaxies, characterize the Lyman-alpha properties and establish correlations with fundamental galaxy properties. 12
12028 Observations of I Zwicky 18: Observations using COS's high sensitivity to surface brightness to detect UV gas emission, especially HeII 1640, in I Zwicky 18. 2
---- Warm-Hot ISM 33
12029 Warm and Hot ISM in and near the Milky Way: Observations of 10 AGN's situated beyond Milky Way high velocity clouds will be used to obtain high quality absorption line profiles for C IV, Si IV and N V in the gas. 12
12030 STIS high resolution observations of the local ISM: Observations of bright early-type B stars located within 150pc of the Sun to probe the absorption properties of the interstellar gas associated with the local cavity. 1
12031 Sampling the Local ISM with hot white dwarfs: Observations of hot white dwarfs located within 150pc of the Sun to probe the absorption properties of the interstellar gas associated with the local cavity. 3
12032 An Absorption Study of Galactic Intermediate Velocity Clouds Using Hot Stars in Globular Clusters: UV bright hot post-AGB stars located within globular clusters to sample the UV absorption properties of the intervening line-of-sight interstellar gas. 11
12026 Sampling the Interstellar Gas Between the Milky Way and Triangulum Galaxies: Interstellar absorption measurements towards the star UIT-236 located within M33 to sample gas associated with the inner and outer halo of the Milky Way, the intergalactic medium, and gas in the M33 galaxy. 6
---- Cold ISM 35
12023 Cold ISM: Observations of interstellar spectra, translucent clouds, molecular lines and bands, and extinction curves. 35
---- X-Ray Binaries 15
12039 X-Ray Binaries: UV Spectra and contemporaneous optical spectra of soft X-ray transients in their quiescent states. The data will be used to establish the broadband spectral energy distribution and measure emission line strengths and widths in the UV. 15
---- Cool Stars 22
12034 Brown Dwarf Activity: Obtain UV spectra of brown dwarfs to study their outer atmospheres, molecular hydrogen emission, older and younger varieties. 9
12035 Activity of Solar Mass Stars from Cradle to Grave: Study how chromospheric and coronal activity of stars decline as stars lose angular momentum and magnetic fields with age. 3
12036 Accretion Flows and Winds of Pre-Main Sequence: Obtain spectra of T Tauri stars with different inclination angles with respect to the line of sight to determine the temperature distributions, flow velocities, and column densities. 8
12040 Metal Deficient Chromospheres of Old Giants: Study Giants with very low metal abundances to test the mechanisms of their chromospheres. 2
---- Solar System 26
12042 Pluto: Seek to measure Pluto's Albedo below 2100Å. 5
12048 Sleuthing the Source of Distant Cometary Activity: Far-UV observations to probe the causes of cometary activity beyond 3 AU. 3
12037 NUV Spectra of Bright Kuiper Belt Objects: Obtain NUV spectra of bright Kuiper belt objects to observe NUV KBO reflectance slopes and to compare/contrast different KBO spectra. 2
12041 Io's Atmospheric Response to Eclipse: Study response of Io's SO2 atmosphere to eclipse egress in the NUV, and the FUV auroral response in and after eclipse. 16

Cycle 17 Programs

ID Title & Description Orbits
---- IGM 112
11541 Cool, Warm and Hot Gas in the Cosmic Web and in Galaxy Halos: Observations of 17 QSOs to study the cool,warm and hot gas in the cosmic web and in galaxy halos. The goal of this program is to obtain the information that will allow an assessment of the baryonic content in the IGM. 51
11528 Studies of the He II Reionization Epoch: Observations of He II absorption will be used as diagnostics of the ionizing sources and radiative transport over large (30-50 Mpc) distances through the IGM 14
11519 Great Wall Tomography: Observe several targets behind the Great Wall, a typical galaxy filament in the Universe, to perform a "cosmic tomography". 8
11520 QSO Absorbers, Galaxies and Large-Scale Structures in the Local Universe: Probe the large scale structure of baryons in the universe, including addressing questions of baryon fraction, physical conditions and relationships between absorbers and large-scale structures of galaxies. 39
---- Star Forming Galaxies 17
11522 Star Formation/Lyman-Alpha: Using a sample of 20 star-forming galaxies, characterize the Lyman-alpha properties and establish correlations with fundamental galaxy properties. 10
11523 Observations of I Zwicky 18: Observations using COS's high sensitivity to surface brightness to detect UV gas emission, especially HeII 1640, in I Zwicky 18. 7
---- Warm-Hot ISM 35
11524 Warm and Hot ISM in and near the Milky Way: Observations of 10 AGN's situated beyond Milky Way high velocity clouds will be used to obtain high quality absorption line profiles for C IV, Si IV and N V in the gas. 15
11525 STIS high resolution observations of the local ISM: Observations of bright early-type B stars located within 150pc of the Sun to probe the absorption properties of the interstellar gas associated with the local cavity. 5
11526 Sampling the Local ISM with hot white dwarfs: Observations of hot white dwarfs located within 150pc of the Sun to probe the absorption properties of the interstellar gas associated with the local cavity. 3
11527 An Absorption Study of Galactic Intermediate Velocity Clouds Using Hot Stars in Globular Clusters: UV bright hot post-AGB stars located within globular clusters to sample the UV absorption properties of the intervening line-of-sight interstellar gas. 6
11521 Sampling the Interstellar Gas Between the Milky Way and Triangulum Galaxies: Interstellar absorption measurements towards the star UIT-236 located within M33 to sample gas associated with the inner and outer halo of the Milky Way, the intergalactic medium, and gas in the M33 galaxy. 6
---- Cold ISM 30
11516 Cold ISM: Observations of interstellar spectra, translucent clouds, molecular lines and bands, and extinction curves. 30
---- X-Ray Binaries 16
11550 UV Spectra and contemporaneous optical spectra of soft X-ray transients in their quiescent states. The data will be used to establish the broadband spectral energy distribution and measure emission line strengths and widths in the UV. 16
---- Cool Stars 38
11530 Alien Dwarfs: COS spectra will be used to determine whether metal poverty changes the heating, structure, and the dynamics of the outer layers of these dwarfs. 8
11531 Brown Dwarf Activity: Obtain UV spectra of brown dwarfs to study their outer atmospheres, molecular hydrogen emission, older and younger varieties. 20
11532 Activity of Solar Mass Stars from Cradle to Grave: Study how chromospheric and coronal activity of stars decline as stars lose angular momentum and magnetic fields with age. 2
11533 Accretion Flows and Winds of Pre-Main Sequence: Obtain spectra of T Tauri stars with different inclination angles with respect to the line of sight to determine the temperature distributions, flow velocities, and column densities. 8
---- Planetary Transits 20
11534 Atmosphere of a Transiting Planet: Observations at different orbital locations to identify the chemical content, size, temperature, and flows in the atmosphere of the transiting planet. 20
---- Solar System 23
11535 Deep Search for an Oxygen Atmosphere on Callisto: Search for 1340 and 1356Å O emission from Callisto, to detect or place strong limits on the presence of a hypothesized O2 atmosphere. 4
11536 Sleuthing the Source of Distant Cometary Activity: Far-UV observations to probe the causes of cometary activity beyond 3 AU. 6
11537 NUV Spectra of Bright Kuiper Belt Objects: Obtain NUV spectra of bright Kuiper belt objects to observe NUV KBO reflectance slopes and to compare/contrast different KBO spectra. 1
11538 Imaging of Mid-UV Emissions from Io in Eclipse: First images of Io's 2000-3000Å auroral emissions, to determine whether emission is concentrated over volcanos or over the sub-Jovian point. 1
11539 Io's Atmospheric Response to Eclipse: Study response of Io's SO2 atmosphere to eclipse egress in the NUV, and the FUV auroral response in and after eclipse. 6
11540 Search for Hydrocarbons and Nitriles in Pluto's Atmosphere: Spectra from 2080-2480Å and 2800-3200Å covering absorption bands of the hydrocarbon diacetylene and the nitrile cyanoacetylene. 5

The COS IDT Members

James GreenPrincipal InvestigatorUniversity of Colorado
Cynthia FroningProject ScientistUniversity of Colorado
Steve OstermanInstrument ScientistUniversity of Colorado
Dennis EbbetsCalibration ScientistBall Aerospace
Ken BrownsbergerSoftware ScientistUniversity of Colorado
Steve PentonSoftware ScientistUniversity of Colorado
Stephane BelandSoftware ScientistUniversity of Colorado
Sara R. HeapCo-InvestigatorGSFC
Claus LeithererCo-InvestigatorSTScI
Jeffery LinskyCo-InvestigatorUniversity of Colorado
Blair D. SavageCo-InvestigatorUniversity of Wisconsin - Madison
J. Michael ShullCo-InvestigatorUniversity of Colorado
Oswald SiegmundCo-InvestigatorUniversity of California - Berkeley
Theodore SnowCo-InvestigatorUniversity of Colorado
John SpencerCo-InvestigatorSouthwest Research Institute
John T. StockeCo-InvestigatorUniversity of Colorado