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28 Mar 2003

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE

DAILY REPORT        # 3329

PERIOD COVERED: DOY 86

Part 1 of 3

OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULED

NICMOS 8791

NICMOS Post-SAA calibration - CR Persistence Part 2

A new procedure proposed to alleviate the CR-persistence problem of
NICMOS.  Dark frames will be obtained immediately upon exiting the
SAA contour 23, and every time a NICMOS exposure is scheduled within
50 minutes of coming out of the SAA. The darks will be obtained in
parallel in all three NICMOS Cameras. The POST-SAA darks will be
non-standard reference files available to users with a USEAFTER
date/time mark. The keyword 'USEAFTER=date/time' will also be added
to the header of each POST-SAA DARK frame. The keyword must be
populated with the time, in addition to the date, because HST crosses
the SAA ~8 times per day so each POST-SAA DARK will need to have the
appropriate time specified, for users to identify the ones they need.
Both the raw and processed images will be archived as POST-SAA
DARKSs. Generally we expect that all NICMOS science/calibration
observations started within 50 minutes of leaving an SAA will need
such maps to remove the CR persistence from the science images. Each
observation will need its own CRMAP, as different SAA passages leave
different imprints on the NICMOS detectors.

SNAP 9356

SNAPSHOT survey of the Planetary Nebulae population of the Galactic
Bulge 

The spectacular structures seen in HST images of planetary nebulae
{PNe} are generally accepted as originating from hydrodynamical
interactions between stellar winds: the interacting-stellar wind
model {ISW}. Traditionally, the shaping is thought to occur after the
star becomes hot enough to ionize the PN. But recent HST images
indicate that the shaping may occur earlier, and the newer GISW model
puts the shaping during the pre-planetary nebula evolution. The
relative importance of both models is not known: GISW shaping will
account for some fraction of PNe, but estimates range from 15--100
during the PN phase, especially for the youngest PNe. We here propose
an HST Snapshot survey of compact PNe in the Galactic Bulge, to test
these predictions. The Bulge provides  the only PNe population for
which progenitor masses are known and nebular ages can be measured.
In support of these HST measurements we have already measured
velocity fields and emission line fluxes. The survey will give an
unbiased sampling of morphologies, and allow evolutionary sequences
to be determined to test the ISW versus the GISW model. By-products
of the survey will be the determination of nebular masses, diameters
and filling factors. We will also obtain the White Dwarf mass
distribution in the Bulge, and the initial-final mass function for
low-mass stars. 

NICMOS 9360

Paschen-alpha Imaging of a SIRTF-Selected Nearby Galaxy Sample

of the sample of galaxies being observed at 3.5 -- 160 microns as
part of SIRTF Nearby Galaxies Survey {SINGS} and a related guaranteed
time survey of starburst galaxies. The PAlpha images, accessible only
from HST, will be combined with groundbased HAlpha imaging to measure
the extinction in the star-forming centers of these galaxies, and
obtain robust, extinction- corrected maps of the massive star
formation rate {SFR}. The PAlpha data by themselves will provide
reliable `extinction- free' SFRs, and a cross-calibration of the
{dust--affected} HAlpha-- and UV--based SFRs. The PAlpha--based SFR
measurements will extend the SFR-vs.-gas density law {Schmidt--law}
to surface densities at least 30 times higher than what is accessible
using HAlpha--based SFR measurements alone, bridging the gap between
normal galaxies and IR--luminous starbursts. Furthermore, the
combination of the HST PAlpha images with the SIRTF images and
spectra, as well as ancillary ground--based UBVRIJHK images and GALEX
UV images being obtained as part of the SINGS project, will provide a
definitive study of the radiative transfer of starlight and dust
heating in star--forming galaxies. The processed NICMOS images will
be incorporated into the public SINGS Legacy Data Archive, to enable
scores of follow-up studies by the astronomical community at large.

ACS/HRC 9379

Near Ultraviolet Imaging of Seyfert Galaxies: Understanding the
Starburst-AGN Connection

We propose a near-UV snapshot survey of 101 Seyfert galaxies using
ACS/HRC and the filter F330W, a configuration which is optimal to
detect faint star forming regions around their nuclei. These images
will complement optical and near-IR images available in the HST
archive, thus providing a panchromatic atlas of the inner regions of
active galaxies, which we will use to study the starburst-AGN
connection. The main goals of this proposal are: {1} Determine the
frequency of circumnuclear starbursts in Seyferts, down to levels
which cannot be observed from the ground; {2} characterize the
observational {fluxes, colors, structure, sizes} and intrinsic
{luminosities, masses, ages, global star-formation rate} properties
of these clusters; {3} derive the luminosity functions of young star
clusters around the nucleus of Seyferts and compare these results
with those from normal and starburst galaxies to determine their
survival rate close to the AGN; {4} address questions about the
relation between AGNs and starbursts, like the possible connection
between the masses and luminosities of black holes and starbursts,
and the implications for the evolution of the black holes and their
host galaxy bulges. By adding UV images to the existing optical and
near-IR ones, this project will create an extremely valuable database
for astronomers with a broad range of scientific interests, from the
properties of the AGN to the properties of their host galaxies.

ACS 9476

Galaxy Evolution in the Richest Clusters at z=0.8: the EDisCS Cluster
Sample 

The study of distant cluster galaxies requires two key ingredients:
{1} deep high-resolution imaging, to constrain galaxy structure; and
{2} 8m-class spectroscopy, to measure stellar content, star-formation
rates, dynamics, and cluster membership. We will reach both
conditions with the addition of HST/ACS imaging to our suite of VLT
{36 nights} and NTT {20 nights} observations of 10 confirmed clusters
at z~0.8, drawn from the ESO Distant Cluster Survey {EDisCS}.

The proposed HST/ACS data will complement our existing optical/IR
imaging and spectroscopy with quantitative measures of cluster galaxy
morphologies {i.e. sizes and shapes, bulge-disk decompositions,
asymmetry parameters}, and with measurements of cluster masses via
weak lensing. Major advantages unique to the EDisCS project include:
{i} uniform selection of clusters; {ii} large enough sample sizes to
characterize the substantial cluster-to-cluster variation in galaxy
populations; {iii} large quantities of high quality data from 8m
telescopes; {iv} uniform measurements of morphologies, spectroscopic
and photometric redshifts, SEDs, star-formation/AGN activities, and
internal kinematics; {v} optical selection of clusters to complement
the X-ray selection of almost all high-z clusters in the ACS GTO
programs; {vi} forefront numerical simulations designed specifically
to allow physical interpretation of observed differences between the
high-z and local clusters. 

 - Continued -

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