10643( 1) - 04/05/05 12:13 - [ 1] PROPOSAL FOR HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS ST ScI Use Only ID: 10643 Version: 1 Check-in Date: 05-Apr-2005 16:13:39 1.Proposal Title: Digging for Interstellar Rare Elements in Archival UV Spectra ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2. Proposal For 3. Cycle 4. Parallel Pointing Tolerance AR 14 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5. Investigators Contact? PI: Dr. Stefan Cartledge Louisiana State University and A & M College CoI: Prof. Geoffrey C. Clayton Louisiana State University and A & M N College CoI: Dr. James T. Lauroesch Northwestern University N CoI: Dr. David M. Meyer Northwestern University N CoI: Dr. Ulysses J. Sofia Whitman College N ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6. Abstract The complex history and evolution of element production is reflected in the abundance ratios of the elements. The distinctive abundance patterns produced by nucleosynthesis in supernovae and stars can be used to explore the history of star formation and evolution in galaxies. Recent observations of damped Lyman-alpha systems have suggested that observations of r- and s-process elements at high redshifts may soon provide a new window to explore chemical evolution. Paradoxically, we may soon have more detections of some elements in the interstellar medium of these high redshift galaxies than in the Galactic ISM. However, without an understanding of the depletion behavior of these elements based upon observations of nearby sight lines we may be unable to correctly disentangle the effects of dust depletion and nucleosynthesis. We therefore propose to mine the STScI Archive for spectra of sufficient resolution and signal-to-noise ratio to detect these rare elements and explore the implications of the results for the proportions of each element depleted into dust, the efficiency with which each is produced, and any variations in abundances, or their ratios to hydrogen or other elements, as functions of basic sight line properties. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 10643( 1) - 04/05/05 12:13 - [ 2] Summary Form for Proposal 10643 Item Used in this proposal ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Proposal Category AR ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------