Wide Field And Planetary Camera 2 Research Articles

Analysis of HST WFPC2 Observations of Centaur 29P/Schwassmann–Wachmann 1 while in Outburst to Place Constraints on the Nucleus’ Rotation State

Abstract We present analysis of Hubble Space Telescope observations of Centaur 29P/Schwassmann–Wachmann 1 (SW1) while in outburst to characterize the outburst coma and place constraints on the nucleus’ spin state. The observations consist of Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) images from Cycle 5, GO-5829 acquired on UT 1996 March 11.3 and 12.1, which serendipitously imaged the Centaur shortly after a major outburst. A multi-component coma was detected consisting of an expanding outburst dust coma with complex morphology possessing an east–west asymmetry and north–south symmetry contained within 5″ (∼19,000 km) of the nucleus, the residual dust shell of an earlier UT 1996 February outburst, and a nearly circular coma with underlying quiescent activity level detectable to ∼70″ (∼267,000 km) away from the nucleus. Photometry of the calibrated WFPC2 images resulted in an equivalent R-band magnitude of 12.86 ± 0.02 for a measured 5″ radius aperture and an estimated (2.79 ± 0.05) × 108 kg for the lower limit of dust material emitted during the outburst. No appreciable evolution of morphological features, indicating signatures of nuclear rotation, was detected between the two imaging epochs. The observations were modeled using a 3D Monte Carlo coma model to place constraints on the nucleus’ rotation state. Modeling indicated that the morphology is representative of a non-isotropic ejection of dust emitted during a single outburst event with a duration of the order of hours from a single source region corresponding to ∼1% of the surface area. A spin period with lower limit of the order of days is suggested to reproduce the coma morphology seen in the observations.

Hypervelocity impact in low earth orbit: finding subtle impactor signatures on the Hubble Space Telescope

Return of materials from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) during shuttle orbiter service missions has allowed inspection of large numbers of hypervelocity impact features from long exposure at about 615 km altitude in low Earth orbit (LEO) [1,2]. Here we describe the application of advanced X-ray microanalysis techniques on scanning electron microscopes (SEM), microprobes and a 2 MV Tandetron, to nearly 400 impacts on the painted metal surface of the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) radiator shield [3,4]. We identified artificial Orbital Debris (OD) and natural Micrometeoroid (MM) origins for small [5] and even for larger particles [6], which usually may leave little or no detectable trace on HST solar arrays, as they penetrate through the full cell thickness [2,7].

Dynamics Induced by the Central Supermassive Black Holes in Galaxies

Dynamics Induced by the Central Supermassive Black Holes in Galaxies

X-RAY SOURCES AND THEIR OPTICAL COUNTERPARTS IN THE GALACTIC GLOBULAR CLUSTER M12 (NGC 6218)

We study a Chandra X-ray Observatory ACIS-S observation of the Galactic globular clusterM12. With a 26 ks exposure time, we detect 6 X-ray sources inside the half-mass radius (2.16 arcminutes) of which two are inside the core radius (0.72 arcminutes) of the cluster. If we assume these sources are all associated with globular cluster M12, the luminosity L_{X} among these sources between 0.3-7.0 keV varies roughly from 10^{30} to 10^{32} ergs s^{-1}. For identification, we also analyzed the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) data and identified the optical counterparts to five X-ray sources inside the HST ACS field of view. According to the X-ray and optical features, we found 2-5 candidate active binaries (ABs) or cataclysmic variables (CVs) and 0-3 background galaxies within the HST ACS field of view. Based on the assumption that the number of X-ray sources scales with the encounter rate and the mass of the globular cluster, we expect 2 X-ray source inside M12, and the expectation is consistent with our observational results. Therefore, the existence of identified X-ray sources (possible CVs or ABs) in M12 suggests the primordial origin of X-ray sources in globular clusters which is in agreement with previous studies.

Multiwavelength study of M33's giant H ii regions NGC 588 and NGC 592

We present a detailed multiwavelength photometric study of giant H II regions NGC 592 and NGC 588 in the nearby small spiral galaxy M33. We use data taken with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). We detect several massive stars in both ionizing clusters. Six Wolf–Rayet (WR) stars are known to exist within those regions and we are able to constrain their physical properties by comparing their photometry to the latest grid of model atmospheres for WR stars of the nitrogen sequence (WN subclass). We estimate the age and mass of both regions by fitting our photometry to models of integrated stellar populations.

Wolf-Rayet stars in M33 - II. Optical spectroscopy of emission-line stars in giant H ii regions

We present optical spectra of 14 emission-line stars in M33’s giant H II regions NGC 592, 595 and 604: five of them are known Wolf–Rayet (WR) stars, for which we present a better quality spectrogram, eight are WR candidates based on narrow-band imagery and one is a serendipitous discovery. Spectroscopy confirms the power of interference filter imagery to detect emission-line stars down to an equivalent width of about 5 A in crowded fields. We have also used archival Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/WFPC2 (Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2) images to correctly identify emission-line stars in NGC 592 and 588.

A Hubble Space Telescope Survey of the Mid‐Ultraviolet Morphology of Nearby Galaxies

We present a systematic imaging survey of 37 nearby galaxies observed with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) in the mid-UV F300W filter, centered at 2930 A, as well as in the I-band (F814W) filter at 8230 A. Eleven of these galaxies were also imaged in the F255W filter, centered at 2550 A. Our sample is carefully selected to include galaxies of sufficiently small radius and high predicted mid-UV surface brightness to be detectable with WFPC2 in one orbit and covers a wide range of Hubble types and inclinations. The mid-UV (2000-3200 A) spans the gap between ground-based UBVR(IJHK) images, which are available or were acquired for the current study, and far-UV images available from the Astro/UIT missions for 15 galaxies in our sample. The first qualitative results from our study are as follows:

Final Results from theHubble Space TelescopeKey Project to Measure the Hubble Constant

We present here the final results of the Hubble Space Telescope Key Project to measure the Hubble constant. We summarize our method, the results and the uncertainties, tabulate our revised distances, and give the implications of these results for cosmology. The analysis presented here benefits from a number of recent improvements and refinements, including (1) a larger LMC Cepheid sample to define the fiducial period-luminosity (PL) relations, (2) a more recent HST Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) photometric calibration, (3) a correction for Cepheid metallicity, and (4) a correction for incompleteness bias in the observed Cepheid PL samples. New, revised distances are given for the 18 spiral galaxies for which Cepheids have been discovered as part of the Key Project, as well as for 13 additional galaxies with published Cepheid data. The new calibration results in a Cepheid distance to NGC 4258 in better agreement with the maser distance to this galaxy. Based on these revised Cepheid distances, we find values (in km/sec/Mpc) of H0 = 71 +/- 2 (random) +/- 6 (systematic) (type Ia supernovae), 71 +/- 2 +/- 7 (Tully-Fisher relation), 70 +/- 5 +/- 6 (surface brightness fluctuations), 72 +/- 9 +/- 7 (type II supernovae), and 82 +/- 6 +/- 9 (fundamental plane). We combine these results for the different methods with 3 different weighting schemes, and find good agreement and consistency with H0 = 72 +/- 8. Finally, we compare these results with other, global methods for measuring the Hubble constant.

WFPC2 Images of the Central Regions of Early-Type Galaxies. I. The Data

We present high-resolution R-band images of the central regions of 67 early-type galaxies obtained with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). This homogeneously selected sample roughly doubles the number of early-type galaxies that have now been imaged at HST resolution and complements similar data on the central regions of radio galaxies and the bulges of spiral galaxies. Our sample strikingly confirms the complex morphologies of the central regions of early-type galaxies which have become apparent from previous studies with HST. In particular, we detect dust, either in the form of nuclear disks or with a filamentary distribution, in 43% of all galaxies, in good agreement with previous estimates. In addition, we find evidence for embedded stellar disks in a remarkably large fraction of 51%. In 14 of those galaxies the disklike structures are misaligned with the main galaxy, suggesting that they correspond to stellar bars in S0 galaxies. We analyze the luminosity profiles of the galaxies in our sample and classify galaxies according to their central cusp slope. To a large extent we confirm the results from previous HST surveys in that early-type galaxies reveal a clear dichotomy: the bright ellipticals (MB ≲ -20.5) are generally boxy and have luminosity profiles that break from steep outer power laws to shallow inner cusps (referred to as "core" galaxies). The fainter ellipticals, on the other hand, typically have disky isophotes and luminosity profiles that lack a clear break and have a steep central cusp (referred to as "power-law" galaxies). The advantages and shortcomings of classification schemes utilizing the extrapolated central cusp slope γ are discussed, and it is shown that γ might be an inadequate representation for galaxies whose luminosity profile slope changes smoothly with radius rather than resembling a broken power law. Thus, we introduce a new, alternative parameter and show how this affects the classification. In fact, we find evidence for an "intermediate" class of galaxies that cannot unambiguously be classified as either core or power-law galaxies and that have central cusp slopes and absolute magnitudes intermediate between those of core and power-law galaxies. It is unclear at present, however, whether these galaxies make up a physically distinct class or whether distance and/or resolution effects cause them to lose their distinct core or power-law characteristics.

Hubble Space Telescope Color‐Magnitude Data for Globular Clusters. I. Transformations between STIS LP Magnitudes and WFPC2 F606W and F814W Magnitudes11Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by AURA, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5‐26555.

ABSTRACTWe present deep Hubble Space Telescope optical imaging observations of two Galactic globular clusters, 47 Tucanae and M15, using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) longpass (LP) filter and the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) F606W and F814W filters. These globular clusters have very different metallicities ([Fe/H ]∼ - 0.7 dex for 47 Tuc, and [Fe/H ]∼ - 2.2 dex for M15), essentially spanning the metallicity distribution of the entire Milky Way globular cluster system, and were chosen to investigate the relationship between magnitudes in the nonstandard STIS LP system and the better characterized WFPC2 magnitudes. We determine this relationship by combining our new STIS data with archival WFPC2 data, taking care to provide a robust and reliable transformation. Examining the 47 Tuc and M15 data separately, there is no evidence for a metallicity dependence in the transformation relations. This allows us to combine the data for both clusters, and also include the stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud that lie within the field of view of the 47 Tuc images, to determine final transformations that are valid for main‐sequence stars with colors in the range 0.3≲V606− I814≲1.8. These final relations predict STIS magnitudes within 0.05 mag (1 σ) of those measured for stars in both clusters. In an , we discuss the differences between our empirical transformation relations and those predicted by synthetic photometry.

Charge‐Transfer Efficiency of WFPC2

ABSTRACTObservations of ω Centauri have been used to characterize the charge‐transfer efficiency (CTE) of the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) on board the Hubble Space Telescope. A set of formulae has been developed to correct aperture photometry for CTE loss with dependencies on the X‐ and Y‐positions, the background counts, the brightness of the star, and the time of the observation. The observations indicate that for very faint stars on a very faint background, the CTE loss from the top to the bottom of a chip has increased from about 3% shortly after the cooldown of WFPC2 (1994 April 23) to roughly 40% in 1999 February. In general, typical WFPC2 exposures are much longer than these short‐calibration images, resulting in higher background which significantly reduces the CTE loss and minimizes the CTE problem for most science exposures.

The Extended Blue Continuum and Line Emission around the Central Radio Galaxy in Abell 2597

We present results from detailed imaging of the centrally dominant radio elliptical galaxy in the cooling-flow cluster Abell 2597, using data obtained with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). This object is one of the archetypal blue-lobed cooling-flow radio elliptical galaxies, also displaying a luminous emission-line nebula, a compact radio source, and a significant dust lane and evidence of molecular gas in its center. We show that the radio source is surrounded by a complex network of emission-line filaments, some of which display a close spatial association with the outer boundary of the radio lobes. We present a detailed analysis of the physical properties of ionized and neutral gas associated with the radio lobes, and show that their properties are strongly suggestive of direct interactions between the radio plasma and ambient gas. We resolve the blue continuum emission into a series of knots and clumps, and present evidence that these are most likely due to regions of recent star formation. We investigate several possible triggering mechanisms for the star formation, including direct interactions with the radio source, filaments condensing from the cooling flow, or the result of an interaction with a gas-rich galaxy, which may also have been responsible for fueling the active nucleus. We propose that the properties of the source are plausibly explained in terms of accretion of gas by the cD during an interaction with a gas-rich galaxy, which, combined with the fact that this object is located at the centre of a dense, high-pressure intracluster medium, can account for the high rates of star formation and the strong confinement of the radio source.

Hubble Space TelescopeNear‐infrared and Optical Imaging of Faint Radio Sources in the Distant Cluster Cl 0939+4713

We present deep Hubble Space Telescope Near-Infrared Camera and Multiobject Spectrograph (NICMOS) and Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) optical imaging of a small region in the core of the distant rich cluster Cl 0939+4713 (z = 0.41). We compare the optical and near-infrared morphologies of cluster members and find apparent small-scale optical structures within the galaxies that are absent in the near-infrared. We conclude that strong dust obscuration is a common feature in the late-type galaxies in distant clusters. We then concentrate on a sample of 10 faint radio galaxies lying within our NICMOS field and selected from a very deep 1.4 GHz VLA map of the cluster with a 1 σ flux limit of 9 μJy. Using published data we focus on the spectral properties of the eight radio-selected cluster members and show that these comprise a large fraction of the poststarburst population in the cluster. The simplest interpretation of the radio emission from these galaxies is that they are currently forming massive stars, contradicting their classification as poststarburst systems based on the optical spectra. We suggest that this star formation is hidden from view in the optical by the same obscuring dust that is apparent in our comparison on the optical and near-infrared morphologies of these galaxies. We caution that even in the rest-frame optical the effects of dust cannot be ignored when comparing samples of distant galaxies to low-redshift systems, particularly if dust is as prevalent in distant galaxies as appears to be the case in our study.

The Young Age of the Extremely Metal‐deficient Blue Compact Dwarf Galaxy SBS 1415+437

We use Multiple Mirror Telescope (MMT) spectrophotometry and Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS) spectra and Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) V and I images to study the properties and evolutionary status of the nearby (D = 11.4 Mpc) extremely metal-deficient blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxy SBS 1415+437=CG 389. The oxygen abundance in the galaxy is 12+log(O/H)=7.60+/-0.01 or Zsun/21. The helium mass fraction in SBS 1415+437 is Y=0.246+/-0.004 which agrees with the primordial helium abundance determined by Izotov & Thuan using a much larger sample of BCDs. The alpha-elements-to-oxygen abundance ratios (Ne/O, S/O, Ar/O) are in very good agreement with the mean values for other metal-deficient BCDs and are consistent with the scenario that these elements are made in massive stars. The Fe/O abundance ratio is ~2 times smaller than the solar ratio. The Si/O ratio is close to the solar value, implying that silicon is not significantly depleted into dust grains. The values of the N/O and C/O ratios imply that intermediate-mass stars have not had time to evolve in SBS 1415+437 and release their nucleosynthesis products and that both N and C in the BCD have been made by massive stars only. This sets an upper limit of ~100 Myr on the age of SBS 1415+437. The (V-I) color of the low-surface-brightness component of the galaxy is blue (<0.4 mag) indicative of a very young underlying stellar population. The (V-I) - I color-magnitude diagrams of the resolved stellar populations in different regions of SBS 1415+437 suggest propagating star formation from the NE side of the galaxy to the SW. All regions in SBS 1415+437 possess very blue spectral energy distributions (SED). We find that the ages of the stellar populations in SBS 1415+437 to range from a few Myr to 100 Myr.

TheHubble Space TelescopeKey Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale. XI. The Cepheids in NGC 4414

We report the Discovery of Cepheid variable stars in the galaxy NGC 4414, as part of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale. Observations were obtained with the HST Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) for 13 epochs at V (F555W) and 4 at I (F814W).

Wisps and knots in the central Crab nebula

The fast-spinning Crab pulsar (∼30 turn s−1), which powers the massive expansion and synchrotron emission of the entire Crab nebula, is surrounded by quasi-stationary features such as fibrous arc-like wisps and bright polar knots in the radial range of 2×1016≲r≲2×1017 cm, as revealed by high-resolution (∼0.1 arcsec) images from the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The spin-down energy flux (∼5×1038 erg s−1) from the pulsar to the luminous outer nebula, which occupies the radial range 0.1≲r≲2 pc, is generally believed to be transported by a magnetized relativistic outflow of an electron–positron e± pair plasma. It is then puzzling that mysterious structures like wisps and knots, although intrinsically dynamic in synchrotron emission, remain quasi-stationary on time-scales of a few days to a week in the relativistic pulsar wind. Here we demonstrate that, as a result of slightly inhomogeneous wind streams emanating from the rotating pulsar, fast magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) shock waves are expected to appear in the pulsar wind at relevant radial distances in the forms of wisps and knots. While forward fast MHD shocks move outward with a speed close to the speed of light c, reverse fast MHD shocks may appear quasi-stationary in space under appropriate conditions. In addition, Alfvenic fluctuations in the shocked magnetized pulsar wind can effectively scatter synchrotron beams from gyrating relativistic electrons and positrons.

Wisps and knots in the central Crab nebula

The fast-spinning Crab pulsar (∼30 turn s−1), which powers the massive expansion and synchrotron emission of the entire Crab nebula, is surrounded by quasi-stationary features such as fibrous arc-like wisps and bright polar knots in the radial range of 2×1016≲r≲2×1017 cm, as revealed by high-resolution (∼0.1 arcsec) images from the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The spin-down energy flux (∼5×1038 erg s−1) from the pulsar to the luminous outer nebula, which occupies the radial range 0.1≲r≲2 pc, is generally believed to be transported by a magnetized relativistic outflow of an electron–positron e± pair plasma. It is then puzzling that mysterious structures like wisps and knots, although intrinsically dynamic in synchrotron emission, remain quasi-stationary on time-scales of a few days to a week in the relativistic pulsar wind. Here we demonstrate that, as a result of slightly inhomogeneous wind streams emanating from the rotating pulsar, fast magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) shock waves are expected to appear in the pulsar wind at relevant radial distances in the forms of wisps and knots. While forward fast MHD shocks move outward with a speed close to the speed of light c, reverse fast MHD shocks may appear quasi-stationary in space under appropriate conditions. In addition, Alfvénic fluctuations in the shocked magnetized pulsar wind can effectively scatter synchrotron beams from gyrating relativistic electrons and positrons.

Asteroid Trails in Hubble Space TelescopeWFPC2 Images: First Results

Careful examination of 28,460 selected Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) long exposures from 1994, 1995, and early 1996 has revealed trails of 96 distinct moving objects. They have been reported to the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) Minor Planet Center for their asteroid database and a few have been identified with known asteroids and used to update their orbits. Most of the objects are new, as they are too faint to show up on ground-based surveys.The trails often show a characteristic curvature due to the parallax induced by HST's orbital motion during the exposures. Using ephemerides for HST, the distance to each object can be directly determined from the parallax contribution to the trail shapes. Based on these distances, constraints on the orbits, and photometry of the trails (16 <V< 24), most of the moving objects appear to be small, main-belt asteroids a few km in diameter. A few are known objects—three are potential Mars crossers. Modern wide-field CCD surveys detect asteroids nearly as faint as these (V< 21), but the corresponding absolute magnitudes are uncertain unless their orbits have been established.The detected objects span the absolute magnitude range 13.6 <H< 19.3 (His the symbol for absolute magnitude, not H-band). Statistics of the detections imply a reservoir of (3.1 ± 0.6) × 105such asteroids within 25° of the ecliptic. We find that the slope of the cumulative distribution of absolute magnitudes follows a power law N ∝ H0.2to N ∝ H0.3over this absolute magnitude range in the three distance ranges defined by the Palomar–Leiden survey. These are significantly shallower slopes than those inferred by the Palomar–Leiden survey or extrapolated from population studies of larger asteroids.

Two serendipitous low-mass LMC clusters discovered with HST

We present V and I photometry of two open clusters in the LMC down to V∼26. The clusters were imaged with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), as part of the Medium Deep Survey Key Project. Both are low-luminosity (MV∼−3.5), low-mass (M∼103 M⊙) systems. The chance discovery of these two clusters in two parallel WFPC2 fields suggests a significant incompleteness in the LMC cluster census near the bar. One of the clusters is roughly elliptical and compact, with a steep light profile, a central surface brightness μV(0)∼20.2 mag arcsec−2, a half-light radius rhl∼0.9 pc (total visual major diameter D∼3 pc) and an estimated mass M∼1500 M⊙. From the colour–magnitude diagram and isochrone fits we estimate its age as τ∼(2–5)×108 yr. Its mass function has a fitted slope of Γ=Δlogφ(M)/ΔlogM=−1.8±0.7 in the range probed (0.9≲M/M⊙≲4.5). The other cluster is more irregular and sparse, having shallower density and surface brightness profiles. We obtain Γ=−1.2±0.4, and estimate its mass as M∼400 M⊙. A derived upper limit for its age is τ≲5×108 yr. Both clusters have mass functions with slopes similar to that of R136, a massive LMC cluster, for which HST results indicate Γ∼−1.2. They also seem to be relaxed in their cores and well contained in their tidal radii.

Calibration of the Surface Brightness Fluctution Method for use with the Hubble Space Telescope.

This paper presents the calibration of the surface brightness fluctuation (SBF) technique for use with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera-2 (WFPC-2) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The calibration has a color term and zeropoint significantly different from the Kron-Cousins I-band SBF technique developed for ground-based observations. It is a required first step for using SBF at the larger distances now made possible with HST. WFPC-2 observations of 16 nearby galaxies through the F555W and F814W filters were tied to the V and I photometry of the ground-based SBF Survey (Tonry et al. 1997 [apj, 475, 399]). The calibration of the photometry agrees with that of Holtzman et al. (1995, pasp, 107, 1065) to within a few percent. We used a composite WFPC-2 point spread function (PSF) to measure mbar, and we found that SBF measurements are relatively insensitive to small variations in the PSF. The identification of globular clusters and dust is much easier with HST's high spatial resolution. We computed Mf8bar for the sample from the measured f8bar and the ground-based SBF Survey distance modulus. The best fitting calibration has Mf8bar = (-1.73 +/- 0.07) + (6.5 +/- 0.7) [viz - 1.15]. This color dependence is significantly steeper than the one for I_KC used on the ground. The total rms about this fit is 0.16 mag, reflecting not only the error in WFPC-2 measurements presented here but also the errors in the ground-based distance moduli. After accounting for additional sources of error of ~ 0.05-0.10 mag, the HST observations and ground-based observations are seen to contribute roughly equally to the residual error. We measured f8bar for NGC 3379 from the ground to check this calibration. The distance obtained using the F814W filter and the HST calibration agreed well with that obtained in the SBF Survey. For NGC 3379 we also compared the difference in fluctuation magnitudes Delta mbar between the I_KC and I_F814W filters to theoretical predictions for a typical old, metal rich population of a giant elliptical galaxy and found excellent agreement.