This is a DD proposal Assigned ID: 1 ----- Attempting Submission 1 (Fri Jan 20 21:17:46 GMT 2012) ----- HST Phase I Proposal 1 (tpyx.apt) successfully submitted. The option to turn off segment A of COS is not considered here as all the information we received on the target indicates it should be safe to observe. If you decide to turn off segment A, please let us know. The BOT software brings a safety issue for Visit 2, exposure 1 (COS target acquisition) for the PSA. However, that is requested to be performed with the BOA, so it should not cause any problem. I have shortened the COS ACQ Image Exp time as well as all the buffer times (both COS and STIS). For any technical problems requesting a re-submission of phase 2 with changes of parameters, please do notifty patrick.godon@villanova.edu thank you ----- Attempting Submission 1 (Mon Mar 05 17:10:36 GMT 2012) ----- HST Phase II Proposal 12799 (tpyx.apt) successfully submitted. ----- Attempting Submission 2 (Mon Mar 12 17:42:13 GMT 2012) ----- The target coordinates are known to better than 0.4" and therefore a ACQ/SEARCH is not needed before the ACQ/IMAGE. The surprising April, 2011 explosion of the recurrent nova T Pyxidis offers a unique opportunity to catch T Pyx as it transitions into quiescence where we expect to see the FUV continuum fade, emission lines weaken and transition to the continuum in quiescence. Our three earlier STIS observations of T Pyx centered on the outburst maximum. By obtaining a complete cooling curve of the heated, bloated white dwarf in the FUV where the white dwarf and (possibly) the accretion disk dominate, we will discriminate between the cooling of a massive (near Chandrasekhat mass) post-nova white dwarf versus the cooling of a less massive white dwarf. We predict it will reach quiescence by the Fall of 2012 when a standard GO is planned. New post-recurrent nova cooling calculations are being done by Starrfield et al. (2012) in support of this proposal. Our modeling of this unique sequence should yield or constrain the white dwarf mass, detail the accretion environment, discover how much the WD was heated by the outburst, constrain the accretion rate, and possibly help explain why its latest nova outburst was delayed by 44 years. If, as we expect for its short recurrence time, the white dwarf is massive (1.35 solar mass) and near the Chandrasekhat limit. This is very likely the last time that an observation of a complete cooling curve, at least for the lifetime of COS, will be possible. Nothing is known about the cooling behavior of the white dwarf in recurrent novae so soon after outburst in the FUV with the necessary resolution. As discussed with the STScI staff, we decide to use STIS with the E140M configuration (for safety reason) and COS with the G130 configuration (1055A). We discuss below safety issues and exposure time. T Pyx was observed last with STIS E140M several months ago (STIS spectrum n.3) and its flux was found to be 5 times larger than when observed in quiescence with IUE (see Figure 3 of proposal). To a good accuracy we estimate that the continuum flux level of T Pyx at the time of the observations will be at least twice that of the IUE continuum flux level (as shown in Figure 3 of our proposal) with the possible addition of emission lines. We first check a 100,000K WD using our stellar atmosphere code TLUSTY and SYNSPEC (from I. Hubeny). At a distance of 3,500pc, even with a bloated radius, the WD flux is found to be only a fraction of the existing STIS (n.3) or IUE spectra flux level. It is clear that from the WD itself there is no restriction nor safety concern as no emission lines are expected from the WD at all. For safety reasons we assume that at the time of the observations, the spectrum of T Pyx could have a flux as large as the one in its STIS spectrum n.3 and that the main dominating emission line will be from Nitrogen 5 (N V 1240 - a doublet), all the other lines will have decreased in strength as they already did (though it is very likely that even that NV will have much decreased). We put this STIS (n.3) spectrum into the ETC for STIS with E140M. Requesting a SNR of 10 at 1440A (where there is no emission lines only continuum) we obtained an exposure time of 4584s and no warning. For COS (G130 1055A) the existing STIS spectrum does not cover the shorter wavelengths and therefore it cannot be used in the ETC. We estimate the disk to dominate the spectrum, and its peak temperature will also reach about 100,000K. We therefore assume a 100,000K spectrum and we scale it to fit the flux level of the STIS spectrum around 1300-1400A (continuum). We then use this scaled spectrum in the ETC for COS. For a 2000s exposure time the ETC returns a SNR of about 4 at 1000A (2/3 of the buffer is less than 2000s). The count rate returned for segment A is 767 and 60 for segement B. We do not expect the flux to be that high, but put this maximum flux here are an upper limit for safety purpose. Since the possibility of using only segment B of COS was raised by the COS team, with a lower sensitivity, we will use the segmented COS spectrum only to assess the flux level of the continuum as a lower or upper limit and we do not require a high quality spectrum in that region (otherwise the exposure time would increase drastically). The guide star time, the target aqcuisition time and the instrument overhead time totals about 1,600s for COS and 1200s for STIS for the first orbit and about half of that for the second orbit. The estimated visibiliy time is 55min or 3,300s. First orbit for STIS has 2100s of observing time, and 2500s for the second orbit, totalling about 4600s - that's the estimate, the exact time appears after running the orbit planner. In the present configuration and with the present restriction and using COS to estimate the flux level as an upper or lower limit, we request 2 orbits for STIS and only one orbit for COS. On the overall the emission from the ejecta has decreased substantially and now the central object is the main source. So we can now more easily observed the decline of the system itself to quiescence and for the target acquisition we consider the source to be a point source. Its accuracy is known to less than 0.4arcsec. We request that the STIS observation and COS observation be carried out one after the other, to ensure that the target has the same flux level and is exactly in the same state. Though it is unlikely that the target will change significantly even over a period of days, as it is cooling from its outburst (recurrent nova), we want to minimize the effect of any unpredictable (but small) change. We are aware that the calibration for the present configuration of COS will not be available until Summer 2012 and we will first work on the STIS spectrum. Additional emission lines are expected to be showing up in the COS spectrum, such as N iv (9201-925), S vi (933.5 and 944.5), C iii (977), N iii (991.6), O vi (1031.9, 1037.6). Additional lines would be on the segment A. All these lines are not expected to be as strong the N V (1240) line and should all be similar to the lines seen in the STIS spectrum n.3 or lower, therefore causing no safety problem to COS (these lines are usually broad but not too strong). Since that STIS spectrum was taken (3 months) the magnitude of the source has declined and we don't anticipate any strong lines to cause any problems to the instruments. As to the ejecta, from the shape and changes in the 3 STIS spectra obtaine last year (the lines have decreased in strength and the continuum has begun to appear), it is already in the otpically thin phase as the continuum from the central source is being revealed. We do not expect these ejecta lines to increase at this stage as the ejecta has dimmed a lot. The N V line is possibly from the central source all indicates it should also have decreased (as discussed at lengths in the email exchanges). HOT STARS 0 false 0.0 0.0 false false false false SUPPORTED STAR ACCRETION DISK INTERACTING BINARY RECURRENT NOVA This object was generated by the targetselector and retrieved from the SIMBAD database. J2000 J2000 COS/FUV Spectroscopic No No G130M 1055 STIS/FUV-MAMA Spectroscopic No No E140M 1425 C:\Documents and Settings\Patrick\Local Settings\Temp\OPVisit1674575263066981382.xml 1331570340375 Timing link suitability includes constraints ([02 After 01 by 0.1 to 0.1 days]) The scheduling data was generated by CASM 20.0. CASM was run in Phase II mode. 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