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18 April 2003

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE

DAILY REPORT #3344

PERIOD COVERED:  DOY 107

Part 3 of 3

STIS 9615

Cycle 11 MAMA Dark Monitor

This test performs the routine monitoring of the MAMA detector dark
noise. This proposal will provide the primary means of checking on
health of the MAMA detectors systems through frequent monitoring
of the background count rate. The purpose is to look for evidence
of change in dark indicative of detector problem developing.

ACS 9655

ACS Post-SMOV UV Contamination Monitor

A standard star field {NGC6681} is observed about once a month
through all the ACS broad band UV filters. NGC6681 hosts several UV
spectro - photometric standard stars for which accurate spectra have
been {and will continue to be} measured with STIS. The target cannot
be observed for three months from mid november through to mid
february, so the standard star GRW+70 will be observed twice in its
stead. This programme continues the UV sensitivity monitoring
campaign {ACS SMOV proposal 9010} of the HRC and SBC after the end of
the SMOV period. An SBC dark current measurement is taken as the last
exposure of each SBC sequence.

ACS 9673

CCD Daily Monitor

This program consists of basic tests to monitor, the read noise, the
development of hot pixels and test for any source of noise in ACS CCD
detectors. This programme will be executed once a day for the entire
lifetime of ACS 

ACS 9705

M87 Jet

As the nearest galaxy with an optical jet, M87 affords an
unparallelled opportunity to study extragalactic jet phenomena at the
highest resolution. Monitoring of the jet of M87 by Chandra and HST
has detected massive variability in one knot of M87's jet. During
March-July 2002, knot HST-1 brightened by a factor of 2 in both
X-rays and optical. Following those observations, M87 became
unobservable, as in August-October the Sun approaches to within 5
degrees. Chandra monitoring resumes in November; however, there are
no HST observations of M87 scheduled until May 2003. We therefore
request five HST observations during the period November 2002-April
2003, scheduled to correspond with the Chandra observations. Based on
its track record of X-ray variability in the last year, and optical
variability and superluminal motion {speeds of 6c} since 1994, we
expect continued variability, with comparable timescales. The
proposed observations will monitor the optical morphology, spectrum
and magnetic field configuration of the jet, and allow us to model
the mechanisms responsible for this variability, the first seen in a
spatially resolved jet. The results of this investigation are of key
importance not only for understanding the nature of the X-ray
emission of the M87 and its relationship to the lower energy,
radio-optical continuum, but also for understanding flares in blazar
jets, which are highly variable but where we have never before been
able to resolve the flaring region in the optical or X-rays. Given
the SED observed in M87, the flare emission is probably synchrotron
radiation from a fresh particle injection threshold. Not only will
these observations allow us to check this hypothesis, they will allow
us to constrain the particle acceleration and loss timescales as well
as the jet dynamics {which produce and affect the magnetic field
configuration} associated with this flaring component.

STIS 9706

STIS Pure Parallel Imaging Program: Cycle 10

This is the default archival pure parallel program for STIS during
cycle 10.

WFPC2 9709

POMS Test Proposal: WFII parallel archive proposal

This is the generic target version of the WFPC2 Archival Pure
Parallel program. The program will be used to take paralell images of
random areas of the sky, following the recommendations of the 2002
Parallels Working Group.

FLIGHT OPERATIONS SUMMARY:

Significant Spacecraft Anomalies:
(The following are preliminary reports of potential non-nominal
performance that will be investigated.)

HSTARs:
8992 - STIS Target Acquisition Failure - Third Sub-Exposure Blank {at}
096/2000z
8993 - Battery 6 Current Breaks Limit {at} 108/0333z
8994 - GSacq(1,2,1) results to Finelock Backup (2,0,2) {at} 108/0517z

COMPLETED OPS REQs:
None

OPS NOTES EXECUTED:
None

                         SCHEDULED     SUCCESSFUL      FAILURE TIMES
FGS GSacq                   12             12
FGS REacq                    5              5
FHST Update                 24             24
LOSS of LOCK

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS: None

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