Assigned ID: 528 ----- Attempting Submission 1 (Fri Feb 24 18:00:52 GMT 2012) ----- HST Phase I Proposal 528 (FB_cy20.apt) successfully submitted. ----- Attempting Submission 1 (Mon Jul 09 20:30:57 GMT 2012) ----- No visits for Target 2 is deliberate (see explanation section for details) Inefficient POS sequence in visit 6 is a result of adding an orbit (which was taken away from Target 2). This happens only once and the time lost seems small enough to ignore. Lack of all FP-POS coverage in visit 5 taken care of in Visit 4 (same target). Visits 4 and 5 are the same target; they had to be split. This split into two visits was necessitated because the total orbit allocation was 6, which exceeded the 5 orbit limit for a single visit. All targets except target 3 appear well enough defined in the GSC2 images to justify not having to do an ACQ-SEARCH beforehand. Two sharply defined lobes of gamma-ray emission emerging from the center of our Galaxy, called the Fermi Bubbles, have been discovered in the Galactic halo. Their emissivity appears to be uniform and extends up to 8 kpc on either side of the plane. Accompanying the Fermi Bubbles are excess emissions seen in X-rays and microwaves. It is generally believed that cosmic ray particles emitted from the central portion of the Galactic disk (or perhaps the nucleus itself) are responsible for these emissions. These particles must have been advected into the halo by a wind or shock. Our goal is to gain a better understanding of the nature of this gaseous transport by viewing the UV spectra of bright, extragalactic sources behind one of the Fermi Bubbles and its surrounding regions. We plan to obtain COS spectra of 5 such objects, with the goal of measuring absorption features from Si III, Si IV, C IV and N V. We expect that our mapping of column densities and kinematics of the gases will help us to distinguish a shock from a wind. Moreover, if a shock is present, we should be able to evaluate the product of its age and the density of the gas by comparing the column densities of different species. We have planned for COS G130M and G160M observations of 5 extragalactic targets that have sightlines that penetrate the environment of the Fermi Bubbles (FB). We require a total of 19 orbits of observations. Our objective is to record UV absorption features from species that will reveal the internal densities, kinematics and overall level of ionization of the gas surrounding and within the FB. When we combine our observations with those of other targets that have already been observed with COS, we expect to have a reasonably balanced coverage consisting of 10 directions that are within the FB perimeter, outside the FB but inside the X-ray plume, and just outside the X-ray plume. All of our targets are QSOs or bright AGNs at low redshifts that have far-UV fluxes measured by GALEX that exceed 800 μJy, thus assuring that we can obtain respectable S/N within modest allocations of orbital time. These targets are spatially unresolved by GALEX (i.e., reported FWHM about 5′′), so that we have a good indication that they are point-like, and thus reported fluxes are not dominated by early-type stars in a nuclear starburst or UV-emitting sources elsewhere in the host galaxy. Our primary discriminant between an outflow and a shock will be the overall systematic changes in gas column densities and kinematics. If it appears that our data indicate the presence of ionized gas ahead of a shock, we will determine the product of the electron density and the shock’s age. We expect to do this by determining the ratios of some combination of the ions Si III, Si IV, C IV, and N V in the photoionized preshock material. Starting with Si III and progressing to ions with higher ionization potentials, we can expect to span four orders of magnitude in shock development with no significant gaps where all lines are either too strong or weak. It is important to have good velocity resolution; hence we will use the highest dispersion modes of COS. With that requirement, we must use two different gratings, G130M and G160M, to cover all of ions mentioned above. We have selected the 1589 central wavelength setting for G160M so that we can obtain an observation of the weaker member of the Si IV doublet at 1402.77 A that duplicates the one recorded by G130M. Depending on the brightness of a target, we plan to use 1 to 3 orbits for each grating setting. For each target, we plan to achieve at least S/N = 30 per resolution element (resel) for the G130M setting. This requirement is established by our need to record the relatively weak doublet of N V. For the G160M spectrum that covers the usually strong absorptions by C IV, we are willing to relax this requirement to S/N = 20 per resel. Some of our observations should yield spectra with S/N that exceed our minimum requirements, due to the quantization of observing time into full orbits. In order to reduce the fixed-pattern noise and achieve our S/N goals, we plan to break the exposures into segments that have different FP-POS settings. Three of our targets are at declinations that are favorable for CVZ observations, but only one of them can be scheduled as such (1H 2129-624: 6 CVZ opportunities in a year). The target RXS- J2328-7026 is in the RA interval where maximum scheduability must be specified, hence CVZ observations are disallowed. According to the APT visit planner, the target ESO-141-55 has no scheduling opportunities for CVZ operations, even though it has a favorable declination and is not within one of the restricted RA intervals. As a final note, we plan to use the MAST archive to retrieve spectra of various stars in the general vicinity of our targets in the sky, but whose distances are less than that toward the Galactic center. These spectra will help us to identify foreground gas components. One star, HD 156359, is in the general vicinity of our targets but is situated at a distance of 11 kpc (i.e., behind the Galactic center region) and shows an interesting high velocity component for N V (Sembach et al. 1995). We will incorporate the results for this star in our overall analysis. Our original Phase I proposal had specified 6 targets for our program. On further investigation, relying mainly on COS data recently released to the public, we find that the far-UV flux of Target 2 (the nucleus of NGC 7552) is far below that indicated by an observation by GALEX (3908 μJy), which we had used in our initial selection of targets. We have decided to drop this target and move the 1 orbit that was slated for this object to another one of our targets, Target 6. Calculations of the expected S/N for this target (RXS-J23218-7026) were somewhat below our specification of 30 for G130M and 20 for G160M, so this transfer of observing time is a prudent choice for meeting our scientific objectives. We have retained the dropped target in our target list (but without any orbits scheduled) in order to avoid confusion with target renumbering. Bright Object Tool reveals some red flags with the GSC2 review, but reviews with GALEX show all green. We have verified that GALEX has properly covered all of the field footprints of COS centered on our targets. ISM AND CIRCUMSTELLAR MATTER 12 false 0.0 0.0 false false false false SUPPORTED GALAXY NUCLEUS QSO QUASAR This object was generated by the targetselector and retrieved from the SIMBAD database. J2000 J2000 GALEX fuv flux = 1320 micro-Jy GALAXY NUCLEUS This object was generated by the targetselector and retrieved from the SIMBAD database. This target was in our Phase I proposal, but later it was discovered from recently released HST observations to have a flux well below our estimate based on the GALEX fuv measurement. We have decided to drop this target from our program and use the 1-orbit savings to boost the S/N for Target 6, which is the one target in our program that had a mildly deficient observing time for our S/N goal. To avoid confusion, this target is not being eliminated from the target list, so that the original target numbers for the other targets are still intact. J2000 J2000 GALEX fuv flux = 3908 micro-Jy GALAXY NUCLEUS QSO QUASAR This object was generated by the targetselector and retrieved from the SIMBAD database. J2000 J2000 GALEX fuv flux = 4361 micro-Jy GALAXY NUCLEUS QSO QUASAR This object was generated by the targetselector and retrieved from the SIMBAD database. J2000 J2000 GALEX fuv flux = 1356 micro-Jy GALAXY NUCLEUS QSO QUASAR J2000 J2000 GALEX fuv flux = 877 micro-Jy GALAXY NUCLEUS QSO QUASAR J2000 J2000 GALEX fuv flux = 1037 micro-Jy COS/FUV Spectroscopic No No G130M 1309 COS/FUV Spectroscopic No No G160M 1589 COS/FUV Spectroscopic No No G160M 1589 COS/FUV Spectroscopic No No G130M 1309 COS/FUV Spectroscopic No No G160M 1589 COS/FUV Spectroscopic No No G130M 1309 COS/FUV Spectroscopic No No G160M 1589 COS/FUV Spectroscopic No No G130M 1309 COS/FUV Spectroscopic No No G160M 1589 COS/FUV Spectroscopic No No G130M 1309 COS/FUV Spectroscopic No No G160M 1589 C:\Documents and Settings\Edward\My Documents\OP-cache\FB_cy20-v01.xml 1341604983343 The scheduling data was generated by CASM 20.2. CASM was run in Phase II mode. (Tic-Visit :proposal-id 12936 :visit-id "01" :proposal-version -1 :trans-version "20120604" :date "06-Jul-2012 16:03:02.0" :trans-errors '(:WARNINGS 0 :ERRORS 0 :HEALTH-AND-SAFETY 0 :FATAL-ERRORS 0 :CONTINUABLE-FATALS 0) :number-of-orbits 4 :saa-model "31" :si-bright-earth-limb-angle 20.0 :data-volume 852672 :tdrss-contact-duration 0 :coron NIL ) (Tic-Obset :proposal-id 12936 :visit-id "01" :obset-id "01" :pcs-mode "FGS" ) (Tic-Orbit :proposal-id 12936 :visit-id "01" :orbit-number 1 :pcs-time 333 :si-vis-utilization 2906 :al-overhead-at-end 0 :internal-dur-at-end 48 :dark-offset NIL :dark-utilization 0 :max-dark-utilization 1920 :low-sky "N" :pcs-visibility 3287 :pcs-gap 0 ) (Tic-Orbit :proposal-id 12936 :visit-id "01" :orbit-number 2 :pcs-time 222 :si-vis-utilization 3065 :al-overhead-at-end 0 :internal-dur-at-end 48 :dark-offset NIL :dark-utilization 0 :max-dark-utilization 1920 :low-sky "N" :pcs-visibility 3287 :pcs-gap 0 ) (Tic-Orbit :proposal-id 12936 :visit-id "01" :orbit-number 3 :pcs-time 222 :si-vis-utilization 3065 :al-overhead-at-end 0 :internal-dur-at-end 38 :dark-offset NIL :dark-utilization 0 :max-dark-utilization 1920 :low-sky "N" :pcs-visibility 3287 :pcs-gap 0 ) (Tic-Orbit :proposal-id 12936 :visit-id "01" :orbit-number 4 :pcs-time 222 :si-vis-utilization 3065 :al-overhead-at-end 0 :internal-dur-at-end 376 :dark-offset NIL :dark-utilization 0 :max-dark-utilization 1920 :low-sky "N" :pcs-visibility 3287 :pcs-gap 0 ) true 4 0 Exposure time increased by a factor of two over the ETC value to allow for a variability in the flux in an unfavorable direction. Unlike most exposures, here we specify buffer time in terms of 2/3 X ETC calc. of buffer time instead of exp time - 100. C:\Documents and Settings\Edward\Local Settings\Temp\OPVisit1600583242257008585.xml 1341864140515 The scheduling data was generated by CASM 20.2. CASM was run in Phase II mode. (Tic-Visit :proposal-id 12936 :visit-id "02" :proposal-version -1 :trans-version "20120604" :date "09-Jul-2012 16:02:19.0" :trans-errors '(:WARNINGS 0 :ERRORS 0 :HEALTH-AND-SAFETY 0 :FATAL-ERRORS 0 :CONTINUABLE-FATALS 0) :number-of-orbits 2 :saa-model "31" :si-bright-earth-limb-angle 20.0 :data-volume 817776 :tdrss-contact-duration 0 :coron NIL ) (Tic-Obset :proposal-id 12936 :visit-id "02" :obset-id "02" :pcs-mode "FGS" ) (Tic-Orbit :proposal-id 12936 :visit-id "02" :orbit-number 1 :pcs-time 333 :si-vis-utilization 3150 :al-overhead-at-end 0 :internal-dur-at-end 48 :dark-offset NIL :dark-utilization 0 :max-dark-utilization 1920 :low-sky "N" :pcs-visibility 3491 :pcs-gap 0 ) (Tic-Orbit :proposal-id 12936 :visit-id "02" :orbit-number 2 :pcs-time 222 :si-vis-utilization 3266 :al-overhead-at-end 0 :internal-dur-at-end 385 :dark-offset NIL :dark-utilization 0 :max-dark-utilization 1920 :low-sky "N" :pcs-visibility 3491 :pcs-gap 0 ) true 2 0 Exposure time boosted by a factor of two above ETC time of 1 sec (which gives SNR = 28 for Segment A only) in order to allow for a possible factor two decrease in the target's flux since the reference IUE spectrum was taken. 1341606240531 C:\Documents and Settings\Edward\My Documents\OP-cache\FB_cy20-v03.xml The scheduling data was generated by CASM 20.2. CASM was run in Phase II mode. (Tic-Visit :proposal-id 12936 :visit-id "03" :proposal-version -1 :trans-version "20120604" :date "06-Jul-2012 16:23:59.0" :trans-errors '(:WARNINGS 0 :ERRORS 0 :HEALTH-AND-SAFETY 0 :FATAL-ERRORS 0 :CONTINUABLE-FATALS 0) :number-of-orbits 2 :saa-model "31" :si-bright-earth-limb-angle 20.0 :data-volume 713536 :tdrss-contact-duration 0 :coron NIL ) (Tic-Obset :proposal-id 12936 :visit-id "03" :obset-id "03" :pcs-mode "FGS" ) (Tic-Orbit :cvz T :proposal-id 12936 :visit-id "03" :orbit-number 1 :pcs-time 333 :si-vis-utilization 10656 :al-overhead-at-end 0 :internal-dur-at-end 366 :dark-offset NIL :dark-utilization 0 :max-dark-utilization 0 :low-sky "N" :pcs-visibility 0 :pcs-gap 0 ) true 2 0 Exposure time increased by a factor of two over the ETC value to allow for a variability in the flux in an unfavorable direction. C:\Documents and Settings\Edward\My Documents\OP-cache\FB_cy20-v04.xml 1341606617328 The scheduling data was generated by CASM 20.2. CASM was run in Phase II mode. 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Unlike most exposures, here we specify buffer time in terms of 2/3 X ETC calc. of buffer time instead of exp time - 100. Unlike most exposures, here we specify buffer time in terms of 2/3 X ETC calc. of buffer time instead of exp time - 100. C:\Documents and Settings\Edward\My Documents\OP-cache\FB_cy20-v05.xml 1341607216546 The scheduling data was generated by CASM 20.2. CASM was run in Phase II mode. 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C:\Documents and Settings\Edward\My Documents\OP-cache\FB_cy20-v06.xml 1341607892078 The scheduling data was generated by CASM 20.2. CASM was run in Phase II mode. 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