! File: 3432C.PROP ! Database: PEPDB ! Date: 19-FEB-1994:07:36:51 coverpage: title_1: CIR-X1 REVISITED: SPECTROSCOPY THROUGHOUT THE 16.6 title_2: DAY CYCLE OF THE REAL OPTICAL CANDIDATE. sci_cat: STELLAR ASTROPHYSICS sci_subcat: X-RAY BINARIES proposal_for: GO cont_id: 3432 pi_fname: PATRIZIA pi_mi: A pi_lname: CARAVEO pi_inst: ISTITUTO DI FISICA COSMICA DEL CNR pi_country: ITALY pi_phone: 39-2-2367587 hours_pri: 6.58 num_pri: 2 wf_pc: Y fos: Y time_crit: Y off_fname: GIULIANO off_lname: BOELLA off_title: DIRECTOR off_inst: ISTITUTO DI FISICA COSMICA DEL CNR off_addr_1: VIA BASSINI, 15 off_city: MILANO 20133 off_country: ITALY off_phone: 39-2-2363542 ! end of coverpage abstract: line_1: Circinus X-1 is a very strong and highly variable X-ray, IR and radio line_2: source. Its optical identification was, until very recently, line_3: wrongly attributed to a star which recent NTT observations, done in line_4: superb seeing, have resolved in three objects.Of these one, very red, line_5: coincides with the accurate VLA position for the radio source line_6: (varying in phase with the X-ray), and is thus the real candidate. line_7: Only HST can now do meaningful line_8: work on the true counterpart of Cir X-1: even small seeing conditions line_9: variations would render incomparable measurements taken from the ground line_10: over the 16.6 day (binary\?) source cycle. A WFPC exposure for line_11: target acquisition and a sequence of 4 FOS spectra, taken at critical line_12: time during the cycle, will probably suffice to understand this line_13: 17-19 mag variable object, responsible for a truly bizarre line_14: X-ray/radio object. ! ! end of abstract general_form_proposers: lname: BIGNAMI fname: GIOVANNI mi: F inst: ISTITUTO DI FISICA COSMICA DEL CNR country: ITALY esa: Y ! lname: CARAVEO fname: PATRIZIA title: PI mi: A inst: ISTITUTO DI FISICA COSMICA DEL CNR country: ITALY esa: Y ! ! end of general_form_proposers block general_form_text: question: 3 section: 1 line_1: After an EARLY ACQUISITION with the WFPC we plan to use the red line_2: detector line_3: of the FOS with the PRISM using a 0.5 arcsec aperture line_4: to obtain a low resolution spectrum of line_5: the proposal counterpart of Cir X-1. We have chosen this set-up line_6: in order to maximize the trhoughput of the instrument, given the relative line_7: faintness of our target, most probably of mr= 19, line_8: and the need to use a small aperture also line_9: to avoid contamination from the nearby (about 1.5 arcsec) field line_10: stars. ! question: 4 section: 1 line_1: In order to study the temporal behaviour of the Cir X1 optical counterpart, line_2: now known to lye 1.5 arcsec from two unrelated objects,one needs EXCELLENT line_3: and CONSTANT SEEING CONDITIONS. Clearly this can only be achievable with HST line_4: whose angular resolution is both very good and stable so that one can be sure line_5: to obtain directly comparable data sets taken at different phases of the 16.6 line_6: day cycle of this source line_7: This has been line_8: repeatedly tried from the ground, using ESO telescopes, but with no line_9: success owing to the need of a truly sub-arcsec seeing for long integration line_10: times and for several nights. line_11: The problem consists in taking good spectra throught the 16.6 day cycle ( say line_12: 3 spectra near maximum -before, during and after- and one well away from it) line_13: of an object of about mr 19. line_14: We believe the FOS on HST to line_15: be currently the only instrument for this job, even considering line_16: the degraded performance of the OTA. The wider PSF implies that we have to be line_17: particularly careful to avoid contamination from the two adjacent stars. ! question: 6 section: 1 line_1: Since the strong and clearly correlated X-ray,Radio,IR flux variabilities of line_2: Cir X-1 are known to follow a 16.6 day cyclic behaviour, we propose to observe line_3: the source 4 times during such a cycle. In particular we ask for three line_4: observations near the expected maximum and for one in the quiet period line_5: of the cycle. ! question: 7 section: 1 line_1: As already mentioned, the current proposing team has significant experience line_2: with ground-based optical astronomy data analysis. In particular, the current line_3: P.I. is also Co.I. of an ESO Key Project dedicated to similar scientific goal line_4: as this proposal. line_5: At our institute in Milano we have directly available IRAF (with STSDAS), MIDAS line_6: on SUN WS and VAX. line_7: We plan, however, to make full use of the ECF facility in Garching, and also line_8: to interact strongly with STScI personnel, especially for the critical points line_9: of background and sky subtraction, as well as wavelength and flux calibrations. ! question: 9 section: 1 line_1: 2525: Searching for the GEMINGA Optical Counterpart with Multi-color Photometry line_2: Related to the present proposal only from the phylosophical point of view. line_3: The objects involved can be very different ! question: 10 section: 1 line_1: The Istituto di Fisica Cosmica has VAX and SUN WS equipped with MIDAS and line_2: IRAF (with STSDAS). Students from the Istituto di Fisica of the Milano line_3: University normally take active part in the data analysis. line_4: Funds will be provided by the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana and by CNR ! !end of general form text general_form_address: lname: CARAVEO fname: PATRIZIA mi: A category: PI inst: ISTITUTO DI FISICA COSMICA DEL CNR addr_2: VIA BASSINI, 15 city: MILANO 20133 country: ITALY phone: 39-2-2367587 telex: 313839 ! ! end of general_form_address records fixed_targets: targnum: 1 name_1: STAR-1520-5710 name_2: CIR-X1 descr_1: 165 pos_1: RA = 15H 16M 48.4S +/- 0.07S, pos_2: DEC = -56D 59' 11" +/- 1.0" equinox: 1950 pos_epoch_bj: B comment_1: EARLY ACQUISITION FOR 2 AND 3 fluxnum_1: 1 fluxval_1: R = 19.0 +/- 0.5 fluxnum_2: 1 fluxval_2: V = 20.0 +/- 0.5 fluxnum_3: 1 fluxval_3: I = 18.5 +/- 0.5 ! targnum: 2 name_1: CIR-X1-OFFSET descr_1: 603 pos_1: RA = 15H 16M 48S +/- 30", pos_2: DEC =-56D 59' 11"+/- 30" equinox: 1950 pos_epoch_bj: B comment_1: TO BE FOUND OFFSET STAR ! targnum: 3 name_1: STAR-1520-5710-SPECTRUM name_2: CIR-X1 descr_1: 165 pos_1: RA-OFF = 0.05S +/- 5S, pos_2: DEC-OFF = 0.05" +/- 1', pos_3: FROM 2 equinox: 1950 pos_epoch_bj: B comment_1: OFFSET FROM 2 TO BE MEASURED fluxnum_1: 1 fluxval_1: R = 19.0 +/- 0.5 fluxnum_2: 1 fluxval_2: V = 20.0 +/- 0.5 fluxnum_3: 1 fluxval_3: I = 18.6 +/- 0.5 ! ! end of fixed targets ! No solar system records found ! No generic target records found exposure_logsheet: linenum: 1.000 targname: STAR-1520-5710 config: WFC opmode: IMAGE aperture: WFALL sp_element: F785LP num_exp: 1 time_per_exp: 5M s_to_n: 30 fluxnum_1: 1 priority: 1 req_1: EARLY ACQ FOR 2-9; req_2: CYCLE 2 ! linenum: 2.000 targname: CIR-X1-OFFSET config: FOS/RD opmode: ACQ/BINARY aperture: 4.3 sp_element: MIRROR num_exp: 1 time_per_exp: 30S s_to_n: 10 priority: 1 req_1: ONBOARD ACQ FOR 2.1; req_2: CYCLE 2; ! linenum: 2.100 targname: CIR-X1-OFFSET config: FOS/RD opmode: ACQ/PEAK aperture: 0.3 sp_element: MIRROR num_exp: 1 time_per_exp: 6S s_to_n: 10 priority: 1 param_1: SEARCH-SIZE=3, param_2: SCAN-STEP=0.15 req_1: ONBOARD ACQ FOR 3; req_2: CYCLE 2; ! linenum: 3.000 targname: STAR-1520-5710-SPECTRUM config: FOS/RD opmode: ACCUM aperture: 0.5 sp_element: PRISM wavelength: 1850-8000 num_exp: 1 time_per_exp: 86M s_to_n: 10 fluxnum_1: 1 priority: 1 req_1: PHASE 0.0 +/- 0.01; req_2: PERIOD 16.5669D +/- 0.0000D; req_3: ZERO-PHASE JD 2443077.47 +/- 0.01D; req_4: CYCLE 2; ! linenum: 4.000 targname: CIR-X1-OFFSET config: FOS/RD opmode: ACQ/BINARY aperture: 4.3 sp_element: MIRROR num_exp: 1 time_per_exp: 30S s_to_n: 10 priority: 1 req_1: ONBOARD ACQ FOR 4.1; req_2: CYCLE 2; ! linenum: 4.100 targname: CIR-X1-OFFSET config: FOS/RD opmode: ACQ/PEAK aperture: 0.3 sp_element: MIRROR num_exp: 1 time_per_exp: 6S s_to_n: 10 priority: 1 param_1: SEARCH-SIZE=3, param_2: SCAN-STEP=0.15 req_1: ONBOARD ACQ FOR 5; req_2: CYCLE 2; ! linenum: 5.000 targname: STAR-1520-5710-SPECTRUM config: FOS/RD opmode: ACCUM aperture: 0.5 sp_element: PRISM wavelength: 1850-8000 num_exp: 1 time_per_exp: 86M s_to_n: 10 fluxnum_1: 1 priority: 1 req_1: PHASE 0.05 +/- 0.01; req_2: PERIOD 16.5669D +/- 0.0000D; req_3: ZERO-PHASE JD 2443077.47 +/- 0.01D; req_4: CYCLE 2; ! linenum: 6.000 targname: CIR-X1-OFFSET config: FOS/RD opmode: ACQ/BINARY aperture: 4.3 sp_element: MIRROR num_exp: 1 time_per_exp: 30S s_to_n: 10 priority: 1 req_1: ONBOARD ACQ FOR 6.1; req_2: CYCLE 2; ! linenum: 6.100 targname: CIR-X1-OFFSET config: FOS/RD opmode: ACQ/PEAK aperture: 0.3 sp_element: MIRROR num_exp: 1 time_per_exp: 6S s_to_n: 10 priority: 1 param_1: SEARCH-SIZE=3, param_2: SCAN-STEP=0.15 req_1: ONBOARD ACQ FOR 7; req_2: CYCLE 2; ! linenum: 7.000 targname: STAR-1520-5710-SPECTRUM config: FOS/RD opmode: ACCUM aperture: 0.5 sp_element: PRISM wavelength: 1850-8000 num_exp: 1 time_per_exp: 86M s_to_n: 10 fluxnum_1: 1 priority: 1 req_1: PHASE 0.95 +/- 0.01; req_2: PERIOD 16.5669D +/- 0.0000D; req_3: ZERO-PHASE JD 2443077.47 +/- 0.01D; req_4: CYCLE 2; ! linenum: 8.000 targname: CIR-X1-OFFSET config: FOS/RD opmode: ACQ/BINARY aperture: 4.3 sp_element: MIRROR num_exp: 1 time_per_exp: 30S s_to_n: 10 priority: 1 req_1: ONBOARD ACQ FOR 8.1; req_2: CYCLE 2; ! linenum: 8.100 targname: CIR-X1-OFFSET config: FOS/RD opmode: ACQ/PEAK aperture: 0.3 sp_element: MIRROR num_exp: 1 time_per_exp: 6S s_to_n: 10 priority: 1 param_1: SEARCH-SIZE=3, param_2: SCAN-STEP=0.15 req_1: ONBOARD ACQ FOR 9; req_2: CYCLE 2; ! linenum: 9.000 targname: STAR-1520-5710-SPECTRUM config: FOS/RD opmode: ACCUM aperture: 0.5 sp_element: PRISM wavelength: 1850-8000 num_exp: 1 time_per_exp: 86M s_to_n: 10 fluxnum_1: 1 priority: 1 req_1: PHASE 0.5 +/- 0.1; req_2: PERIOD 16.5669D +/- 0.0000D; req_3: ZERO-PHASE JD 2443077.47 +/- 0.01D; req_4: CYCLE 2; ! ! end of exposure logsheet ! No scan data records found