11624( 3) - 24-Apr-2009 10:58:20 - [ 1] HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE OBSERVING PROGRAM 11624 Version: 3 Check-in Time: 24-Apr-2009 10:58:20 STScI Edit Number: 1 Title Black hole superkicks: Imaging the site of a gravitational wave recoil event ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Type Cycle GO 17 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Investigators Contact? PI: Dr. Stefanie Komossa Max-Planck-Institut fur extraterrestrische Physik CoI: Prof. David Merritt Rochester Institute of Technology N CoI: Prof. Guenther Hasinger Max-Planck-Institut fur extraterrestrische N Physik CoI: Dr. Hongyan Zhou Max-Planck-Institut fur extraterrestrische N Physik CoI: Dr. Jens Zuther Max-Planck-Institut fur extraterrestrische N Physik ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Abstract Recent numerical relativity simulations of coalescing, binary supermassive black holes (SMBHs) predict kick velocities as large as several thousand km/s due to anisotropic emission of gravitational waves. We have recently discovered the best candidate to date for such a recoiling SMBH, the quasar SDSS0927+2943. It shows an exceptional optical emission-line spectrum with two sets of emission lines; one set of very narrow emission lines, and a second set of broad Balmer and broad high-ionization forbidden lines which are blueshifted by 2650 km/s relative to the narrow emission lines. This is the predicted spectroscopic signature of a SMBH recoiling from the core of its host galaxy, carrying with it the broad-line gas while leaving behind the bulk of the narrow-line gas. We apply for HST imaging in two filters for two orbits each in order to confirm the recoil model by detecting the host galaxy of the SMBH and measuring the angular offset of the recoiling SMBH from the host galaxy core; and determining, if possible, the morphology of the host galaxy in order to constrain its merger history. Confirmation of the SMBH ejection model for SDSSJ0927+2943 with HST will show decisively that kicks large enough to remove SMBHs completely from their host galaxies do occur, a result that would have profound implications for models of SMBH evolution and galaxy assembly and for numerical relativity. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Observations Description ------------------------ We propose to obtain imaging observations of SDSSJ0927+2943 in two bands, and an image of a nearby star for accurate PSF modelling, with a total observing time of 4 orbits. For the NIR imaging (restframe red), WFC3-IR is our instrument of choice because of its high sensitivity. We will use WFC3 in combination with the filter F110W. This broadband filter ensures a high throughput, and will trace well the stellar population of the (elliptical) host galaxy. In order to detect the host galaxy out to one Petrosian radius with a S/N of 10, we need an exposure time of 3000s with WFC3/F110W. Together with the PSF star (see below) 11624( 3) - 24-Apr-2009 10:58:20 - [ 2] and overheads this fills two orbits. In order to obtain the image in the red band (restframe blue), we will use ACS-WFC in combination with the broad-band filter F606W. For a detection with S/N=10 of the possible post-merger younger stellar populations with bright individual knots we estimate an exposure time of 2800s with ACS-WFC/F606W. In order to optimize ACS buffer dumps, and since our target source does not widely extend across the whole WFC field, we are using the WFC1-2k aperture. Accurate PSF modelling and subtraction is very important for galaxies with active cores at high redhsift ($z$=0.7 in our case). In our case, an advantage is the expected shift of the recoiling quasar w.r.t the galaxy core. Since the quasar itself is significantly brighter (SDSS-r magnitude of 18.3) than the host galaxy, its central pixels will inevitably be saturated in long exposures. We will therefore split the total science exposure in several sub-exposures of durations of 3s, 10, and 30s, and then use the remaining time per orbit. Dithering will be performed in order to remove CRs and hot pixels, and to better sample the PSF. For accurate PSF modelling we will observe a nearby star, within the same orbit as the science exposure. We have carefully inspected the SDSS field around our target source, and find that the star SDSSJ092717.59+294343.9 is well-suited. It has a brightness of 15.5 mag, and is located at a distance of 60 arcsec from SDSSJ0927+2943. Since changes of pointing direction up to 2 arcmin are allowed within one orbit, we will obtain an image of this star during the same orbit, located at exactly the same position on the detector as our target source. In order to also sample the inner part of the PSF, we will take two images of the star, one of 3 s duration to ensure that the core is unsaturated, and one of 100s duration. We will take these images in each filter. Real Time Justification ----------------------- Calibration Justification ------------------------- Additional Comments ------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 11624( 3) - 24-Apr-2009 10:58:20 - [ 3] TARGET LIST Fixed Targets ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tar| Target | Target | Target |Coord | Radial | Flux data No | Name | Description | Position |Eqnx | Vel. | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 SDSSJ092712. GALAXY, ELLIPTICAL, RA=09H27M12.6500S +/- 0.1", J2000 V = 18.3 65+294344.0 QUASAR DEC=+29D43'44.00" +/- 0.1" Reference Frame: ICRS Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2 SDSSJ092717. STAR, G V-IV RA=09H27M17.5900S +/- 0.1", J2000 V = 15.5 59+294343.9 DEC=+29D43'43.90" +/- 0.1" Reference Frame: ICRS Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 11624( 3) - 24-Apr-2009 10:58:20 - [ 4] Patterns ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pattern_Number: 1 Primary_Pattern Secondary_Pattern Pattern_Type ACS-WFC-DITHER-LINE Pattern_Purpose DITHER Number_Of_Points 2 Point_Spacing 3.011 Line_Spacing Coordinate_Frame POS-TARG Pattern_Orient 85.28 Angle_Between_Sides Center_Pattern NO ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pattern_Number: 2 Primary_Pattern Secondary_Pattern Pattern_Type WFC3-IR-DITHER-BOX-MIN Pattern_Purpose DITHER Number_Of_Points 4 Point_Spacing 0.572 Line_Spacing 0.365 Coordinate_Frame POS-TARG Pattern_Orient 18.528 Angle_Between_Sides 74.653 Center_Pattern NO ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 11624( 3) - 24-Apr-2009 10:58:20 - [ 5] Visit: 01 Visit Requirements: On Hold Comments: Additional Comments: Exposures ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Exp | Target | Instr | Oper. | Aper |Spectral|Central| Optional |Num| Time | Special Num | Name | Config | Mode | or FOV |Element |Waveln.| Parameters |Exp| | Requirements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 SDSSJ092717 ACS/WFC ACCUM WFC1-2K F606W 1 3 S SEQ 1-4 NON-INT; PATTERN .59+294343. 1 1-2 9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2 SDSSJ092717 ACS/WFC ACCUM WFC1-2K F606W 1 100 S .59+294343. 9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 SDSSJ092712 ACS/WFC ACCUM WFC1-2K F606W 1 500 S PATTERN 1 3-4 .65+294344. 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 SDSSJ092712 ACS/WFC ACCUM WFC1-2K F606W 1 3 S .65+294344. 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5 SDSSJ092712 ACS/WFC ACCUM WFC1-2K F606W 1 900 S SEQ 5-7 NON-INT; PATTERN .65+294344. 1 5-7 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 SDSSJ092712 ACS/WFC ACCUM WFC1-2K F606W 1 10 S .65+294344. 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 7 SDSSJ092712 ACS/WFC ACCUM WFC1-2K F606W 1 30 S .65+294344. 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 8 SDSSJ092717 WFC3/IR MULTIAC IR F110W NSAMP=5, SAMP-SEQ=SPARS25 1 DEF SEQ 8-9 NON-INT; PATTERN .59+294343. CUM 2 8 9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 9 SDSSJ092712 WFC3/IR MULTIAC IR F110W NSAMP=15, SAMP-SEQ=STEP50 1 DEF PATTERN 2 9 .65+294344. CUM 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 10 SDSSJ092712 WFC3/IR MULTIAC IR F110W NSAMP=15, SAMP-SEQ=STEP50 1 DEF SEQ 10-11 NON-INT; .65+294344. CUM PATTERN 2 10 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 11624( 3) - 24-Apr-2009 10:58:20 - [ 6] Exposures ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Exp | Target | Instr | Oper. | Aper |Spectral|Central| Optional |Num| Time | Special Num | Name | Config | Mode | or FOV |Element |Waveln.| Parameters |Exp| | Requirements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 11 SDSSJ092717 WFC3/IR MULTIAC IR F110W NSAMP=5, SAMP-SEQ=SPARS25 1 DEF PATTERN 2 11 .59+294343. CUM 9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sub Exposures ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Target | Exp |Instr | Oper. | Aper |Spectral|Cent.|Primary |Secondary |Iteration |CR-SPLIT |Orbit |Duration Name | Num |Config | Mode | or FOV |Element |Wave.|Pattern Pos |Pattern Pos |Num |Num |Number | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SDSSJ092717.59+2943 1 ACS/WFC ACCUM WFC1-2K F606W 1 none none none 1 N/A 43.9 SDSSJ092717.59+2943 1 ACS/WFC ACCUM WFC1-2K F606W 2 none none none 1 N/A 43.9 SDSSJ092717.59+2943 2 ACS/WFC ACCUM WFC1-2K F606W 1 none none none 1 N/A 43.9 SDSSJ092717.59+2943 2 ACS/WFC ACCUM WFC1-2K F606W 2 none none none 1 N/A 43.9 SDSSJ092712.65+2943 3 ACS/WFC ACCUM WFC1-2K F606W 1 none none none 1 N/A 44.0 SDSSJ092712.65+2943 3 ACS/WFC ACCUM WFC1-2K F606W 2 none none none 1 N/A 44.0 SDSSJ092712.65+2943 4 ACS/WFC ACCUM WFC1-2K F606W 1 none none none 1 N/A 44.0 SDSSJ092712.65+2943 4 ACS/WFC ACCUM WFC1-2K F606W 2 none none none 1 N/A 44.0 SDSSJ092712.65+2943 5 ACS/WFC ACCUM WFC1-2K F606W 1 none none none 2 N/A 44.0 SDSSJ092712.65+2943 5 ACS/WFC ACCUM WFC1-2K F606W 2 none none none 2 N/A 44.0 SDSSJ092712.65+2943 6 ACS/WFC ACCUM WFC1-2K F606W 1 none none none 2 N/A 44.0 SDSSJ092712.65+2943 6 ACS/WFC ACCUM WFC1-2K F606W 2 none none none 2 N/A 44.0 SDSSJ092712.65+2943 7 ACS/WFC ACCUM WFC1-2K F606W 1 none none none 2 N/A 44.0 SDSSJ092712.65+2943 7 ACS/WFC ACCUM WFC1-2K F606W 2 none none none 2 N/A 44.0 SDSSJ092717.59+2943 8 WFC3/IR MULTIAC IR F110W 1 none none none 3 N/A 43.9 CUM SDSSJ092717.59+2943 8 WFC3/IR MULTIAC IR F110W 2 none none none 3 N/A 43.9 CUM SDSSJ092717.59+2943 8 WFC3/IR MULTIAC IR F110W 3 none none none 3 N/A 43.9 CUM SDSSJ092717.59+2943 8 WFC3/IR MULTIAC IR F110W 4 none none none 3 N/A 43.9 CUM 11624( 3) - 24-Apr-2009 10:58:20 - [ 7] Sub Exposures ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Target | Exp |Instr | Oper. | Aper |Spectral|Cent.|Primary |Secondary |Iteration |CR-SPLIT |Orbit |Duration Name | Num |Config | Mode | or FOV |Element |Wave.|Pattern Pos |Pattern Pos |Num |Num |Number | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SDSSJ092712.65+2943 9 WFC3/IR MULTIAC IR F110W 1 none none none 3 N/A 44.0 CUM SDSSJ092712.65+2943 9 WFC3/IR MULTIAC IR F110W 2 none none none 3 N/A 44.0 CUM SDSSJ092712.65+2943 9 WFC3/IR MULTIAC IR F110W 3 none none none 3 N/A 44.0 CUM SDSSJ092712.65+2943 9 WFC3/IR MULTIAC IR F110W 4 none none none 3 N/A 44.0 CUM SDSSJ092712.65+2943 10 WFC3/IR MULTIAC IR F110W 1 none none none 4 N/A 44.0 CUM SDSSJ092712.65+2943 10 WFC3/IR MULTIAC IR F110W 2 none none none 4 N/A 44.0 CUM SDSSJ092712.65+2943 10 WFC3/IR MULTIAC IR F110W 3 none none none 4 N/A 44.0 CUM SDSSJ092712.65+2943 10 WFC3/IR MULTIAC IR F110W 4 none none none 4 N/A 44.0 CUM SDSSJ092717.59+2943 11 WFC3/IR MULTIAC IR F110W 1 none none none 4 N/A 43.9 CUM SDSSJ092717.59+2943 11 WFC3/IR MULTIAC IR F110W 2 none none none 4 N/A 43.9 CUM SDSSJ092717.59+2943 11 WFC3/IR MULTIAC IR F110W 3 none none none 4 N/A 43.9 CUM SDSSJ092717.59+2943 11 WFC3/IR MULTIAC IR F110W 4 none none none 4 N/A 43.9 CUM 11624( 3) - 24-Apr-2009 10:58:20 - [ 8] Summary Form for Proposal 11624 Item Used in this proposal ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Apertures IR, WFC1-2K ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Configurations ACS/WFC, WFC3/IR ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Opmodes ACCUM, MULTIACCUM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Optional Parameters NSAMP=15, NSAMP=5, SAMP-SEQ=SPARS25, SAMP-SEQ=STEP50 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Special Requirements PATTERN 1 1-2, PATTERN 1 3-4, PATTERN 1 5-7, PATTERN 2 10, PATTERN 2 11, PATTERN 2 8, PATTERN 2 9, SEQ 1-4 NON-INT, SEQ 10-11 NON-INT, SEQ 5-7 NON-INT, SEQ 8-9 NON-INT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Spectral Elements F110W, F606W ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Target Names SDSSJ092712.65+294344.0, SDSSJ092717.59+294343.9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------