Page 1 PROPOSAL FOR HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS ST ScI Use Only ID 3255c Report Date: 09-May-96:18:17 Version: ********** Check-in Date: ********** 1.Proposal Title: SEARCH FOR OPTICAL VARIABILITY ASSOCIATED WITH BLACK HOLES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2. Scientific Category 3. Proposal For 4. Proposal Type 5. Continuation ID STELLAR ASTROPHYSICS GTO/HSP 3255 Sub Category ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6. Principal Investigator Institution Country Telephone Robert C. Bless WISCONSIN, UNIVERSITY OF USA (608) 262-1715 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 7. Abstract It has been suggested that luminous matter passing through an accretion disk towards the event horizon of a black hole is likely to emit a short series of pulses at an increasing frequency. These so-called dying pulses trains would have a period of the order of milliseconds for stellar mass black holes. A search for such pulse trains will be made among 3 candidate objects. Revision History: based on 1094 targets from 3255 with LMCX-3 replaced with V404 Cyg--MJN 3/19/92; ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 8. Scientific Key Words: VARIABLE, INTERACTING BINARIES, BLACK HOLES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 9. Est obs time (hours) pri: 14.45 par: 0 10. Num targs pri: 4 par: 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Page 2 I. GENERAL FORM Proposal 3255c PI: Robert C. Bless Proposal Title: SEARCH FOR OPTICAL VARIABILITY ASSOCIATED WITH BLACK HOLES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Proposers: Proposers Institution Country ESA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ G. W. Van Citters NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION USA Robert C. Bless WISCONSIN, UNIVERSITY OF USA Joseph F. Dolan NASA, GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT USA CENTER James L. Elliot MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF USA TECHNOLOGY Edward L. Robinson TEXAS, UNIVERSITY OF USA Richard L. White SPACE TELESCOPE SCIENCE USA INSTITUTE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3. Description of proposed observations. Each object would be monitored for 30 minutes to an hour using about 100 microsec integration times with a broad filter. Each target should be observed more than once (during different x-ray intensity states, for example). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4. Justification of need for HST observations. ST is required in order to eliminate atmospheric noise, to observe in the UV where burst amplitudes are expected to be larger than in the visual, and to be able to use small apertures. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 13. A search is to be made in black hole candidate objects for "dying pulse trains" indicative of matter spiraling towards the event horizon of a black hole. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 11. Address Information Name: ROBERT C. BLESS Category: PI Institution: UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN Address: SPACE ASTRONOMY LAB. 1150 UNIVERSITY AVE. City: MADISON State: WI Zip Code: 53706 Country: USA Telephone: (608) 262-1715 Telex (or e-mail): ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TARGET LIST a) Fixed Targets ID = 3255c [ 3] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tar| Target | Target | Target |Coord | Radial |Acqui|FLX| Flux data No | Name | Description | Position |Eqnx | Vel. |Prblm|REF| | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2 A0620-00 X-RAY BINARY RA = 06H 22M 44.454S +/- 2000 1 V = 17.8 1.0", 1 V = 11.2 DEC = -00D 20' 44.722" +/- 1.0" Comments: POSREF = ROBINSON ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 V404CYG X-RAY BINARY RA = 20H 24M 03.832S +/- 2000 1 V = 12.6 0.2", DEC = +33D 52' 02.574" +/- 0.2" Comments: POSREF = ROBINSON ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ EXPOSURE LOGSHEET ID = 3255c [ 4] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |10 | 11 | 12 |13 |14| 15 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Line | Seq | Target |Instr | Oper. | Aper |Spectral|Central| Optional |Num| Time | S/N |Flx|Pr| Special Number | Name | Name |Config| Mode |or FOV |Element |Waveln.| Parameters |Exp| |Rel. Time|Ref| | Requirements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 20 A0620-00 HSP/ ACQ DATA- 1 9M 1 1 CYCLE 2 / 20.0- UV2 FORMAT=WORD 21.0 ONBOARD ACQ FOR 21.0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 21 A0620-00 HSP/ SINGLE 10.0 F140LP SAMPLE- 3 20M 1 1 REPEAT 20.0-21.0 UV2 TIME=0.0001 EVERY 30D +/- 7D DATA- FOR 2 MORE TIMES FORMAT=BYTE NON-INT RT-ANALYSIS Comments: PREFER TDRSS DOWNLINK RATHER THAN TAPE RECORDER. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 30 V404CYG HSP/ ACQ DATA- 1 200S 1 1 CYCLE 2 / 30.0- UV2 FORMAT=WORD 31.0 ONBOARD ACQ FOR 31.0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 31 V404CYG HSP/ SINGLE 10.0 F140LP SAMPLE- 3 20M 1 1 REPEAT 30.0-31.0 UV2 TIME=0.0001 EVERY 30D +/- 7D DATA- FOR 2 MORE TIMES FORMAT=BYTE NON-INT RT-ANALYSIS Comments: PREFER TDRSS DOWNLINK RATHER THAN TAPE RECORDER. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Summary Form for Proposal 3255c [ 5] Item Used in this proposal ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Configurations HSP/UV2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Opmodes ACQ SINGLE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Optional Parameters DATA-FORMAT=WORD SAMPLE-TIME=0.0001 DATA-FORMAT=BYTE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Proposal for GTO/HSP ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ S/C Hours 14.45 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Scientific Category STELLAR ASTROPHYSICS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Scientific Sub-category ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Special Requirements CYCLE 2 / 20.0-21.0; ONBOARD ACQ FOR 21.0; REPEAT 20.0-21.0 EVERY 30D +/- 7D FOR 2 MORE TIMES; NON-INT; RT-ANALYSIS; CYCLE 2 / 30.0-31.0; ONBOARD ACQ FOR 31.0; REPEAT 30.0-31.0 EVERY 30D +/- 7D ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Spectral Elements F140LP ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Target Names A0620-00 V404CYG ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------