This week on HST

HST Programs: May 28 - June 3, 2007

Some selected highlights

GO 10862: Comprehensive Auroral Imaging of Jupiter and Saturn during the International Heliophysical Year

Hubble ultraviolet image of auroral activity near Jupiter's north magnetic pole

2007 has been designated the International Heliophysical Year, and HST will be playing a key part in the associated scientific activities by participating in a detailed investigation of auroral activity in jupiter and Saturn. Planetary aurorae are stimulated by the influx of charged particles from the Sun, which travel along magnetic field lines and funnel into the atmosphere near the magnetic poles. Aurorae therefore require that a planet has both a substantial atmosphere and a magnetic field. They are a common phenomenon on Earth, sometimes visible at magnetic latitudes more than 40 degrees from the pole, and have also been seen on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Jovian auroral activity is also affected by the Galilean satellites, which generate electric currents that can produce bright auroral spots (see figure), and, in some cases, have their own auroral storms. HST is using the ACS Solar Blind Channel to monitor activity on the two largest gas giants. The initial campaign, starting in early January, focused on Saturn while it was at opposition. In February, the New Horizons spacecraft flew by Jupiter, with closest approach on February 28th, and used the strong gravitational field to propel it on its way to Pluto. During the fly-by, New Horizons carried out out a number of experiments ( see this link ) while HST monitored the large-scale behaviour. Finally, Jupiter will be surveyed while it is at opposition in June 2007.

GO 10872: Lyman Continuum Emission in Galaxies at z=1.2

Lyman alpha image of the radio galaxy, 4C41.17

In Big Bang cosmology, the early history of the unverise is characterised by three distinct phases: the initial expansion, during which time Big Bang nucleosynthesis occurs, and the universe cools from its initial exceedingly high temperatures; recombination, which occurs at a redshift z~1,100 (or an age of ~400,000 years), when the Universe was cool enough to allow neutral hydrogen to become dominant, leading to high opacity and the cosmic microwave background; and reionisation, when energy sources reionised hydrogen, reducing the opacity of the intergalactic medium and restoring transparency. Reionisation is generally believed to have occurred at a redshift between z~6 and z~20, with the ionising sources either (or both) the first generation of stars (Population III starbursts) and/or proto-quasars. The IGM remains ionised thereafter. A key issue in developing an understanding of this process is assessing how readily starburst-generated Lyman-alpha emission escapes from galaxies, and how starbursts contribute to reionisation at intermediate redshifts. This proposal aims to quantify this matter by targeting galaxies at redshifts 1 < z < 2 for observations at ultraviolet wavelengths with theAdvanced Camera for Surveys Solar Blind Channel (ACS/SBC).

GO 10929: Calibrating the Mass-Luminosity Relation at the End of the Main Sequence

The MV-mass relation for low-mass stars (from T. Henry)

The mass-luminosity relation remains one of the key underpinnings of stellar astrophysics, notably in probing the grey area that separates hydrogen-burning stars from cooling-powered brown dwarfs. The calibration of thsi relation rests on observations of binary systems, primarily eclipsing binaries at masses above 1 MSun, and primarily astrometric binaries at sub-solar masses. In the latter case, reliable mass determinations require orbital measurements of extremely high accuracy, which, in turn, requires high precision astrometry over at least one orbital period. The Fine Guidance Sensors on HST have proven invaluable in this regard, since they allow sub-milliarcsecond accuracy astrometry of binary systems with sub-arcsecond separations; in other words, HST allows measurement of nearby, low-mass binaries with periods short enough to allow completion of the observations in significantly less than an astronomer's lifetime. The current program is using the FGS to monitor six close binary systems. Observations are scheduled of G250-29 (also known as LHS 221). Lying at a distance of 10.6 parsecs, this system comprises an M2.5 primary and an ~M3.5 secondary, with a magnitude difference of ~1.6 magnitudes at visual wavelengths.

GO 11214: HST/FGS Astrometric Search for Young Planets Around Beta Pic and AU Mic

The exozodiacal disk around Beta Pic

Planet formation occurs in circumstellar disks around young stars. Most of the gaseous content of those disks dissipates in less than 10 million years, leaving dusty debris disks that are detectable through reflect light at near-infrared and, to a lesser extent, optical wavelengths. The disk structure is affected by massive bodies (i.e. planets and asteroids), which, through dynamical interactions and resonances, can produce rings and asymmetries. Two of the most prominent and best characterised disks are those acompanying the A-type star Beta Pictoris, and the nearby M dwarf, AU Mic. Both stars are young, with age estimates ranging from 8 to 20 million years for beta Pic and 5 to 10 million years for AU Mic. beta Pic's disk, in particular, shows evidence for significant sub-structure that has been attributed to planetary companions. The present HST program aims to use the Fine Guidance Sensors to obtain high precision astrometry of these two young stars, and search for systematic astrometric residuals due to the hypothesised planetary companions.