Page 1 PROPOSAL FOR HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS ST ScI Use Only ID 4074c Report Date: 09-May-96:19:09 Version: ********** Check-in Date: ********** 1.Proposal Title: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GALACTIC ACTIVITY AND GRAVITATIONAL INTERACTION: CYCLE 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2. Scientific Category 3. Proposal For 4. Proposal Type 5. Continuation ID QUASARS & AGN AUG/FOC 3487 Sub Category OTHER ACTIVE NUCLEI ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6. Principal Investigator Institution Country Telephone Cesare Barbieri UNIVERSITY OF PADOVA ITALY PROF. OF ASTRONOMY ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 7. Abstract It has long been known that activity in galaxies can be triggered by gravitational interaction. This hypothesis is supported by direct observations which show that a considerable excess of Seyfert galaxies and low redshift QSO's belongs to an interacting or disturbed system. A typical member of this class of objects is the S1 galaxy NGC6240, which is characterized by two close nuclei and is also an outstanding member of the new class of extreme IR galaxies identified by IRAS. High resolution imaging of the region between the two nuclei, using the FOC F/96 camera in combination with narrow band filters, centered on crucial lines and on the continuum, will provide information on the nature and on the effects of the collision between the two nuclei. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 8. Scientific Key Words: INTERACTING GALAXIES, ACTIVE GALAXIES, NUCLEI OF GALAXIES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 9. Est obs time (hours) pri: 3.60 par: 0 10. Num targs pri: 2 par: 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Page 2 I. GENERAL FORM Proposal 4074c PI: Cesare Barbieri Proposal Title: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GALACTIC ACTIVITY AND GRAVITATIONAL INTERACTION: CYCLE 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Proposers: Proposers Institution Country ESA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ferdinando Macchetto ESA, SPACE TELESCOPE SCIENCE USA X INSTITUTE Piero Rafanelli PADOVA OBSERVATORY ITALY X Cesare Barbieri PADOVA, UNIVERSITY OF ITALY X H. Schulz RUHR UNIVERSITY BOCHUM GERMANY, WE X ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3. Description of proposed observations. ALL OBSERVATIONS TO BE DONE ON CYCLE 1 and 2. On the basis of the considerations collected in the previous section, both galaxies NGC 6240 and Mkn 231 are well suited for studying the relationship among gravitational interaction, star burst and Seyfert activity. In addition, they are the closest and apparently brightest objects showing an extreme high infrared excess. High resolution imaging with appropriate narrow band filters (encompassing, in turn HB + 0III (N1+N2), 0II 3727 and the nearby continua) will provide information on the morphology, on the space distribution of the ionized gas and on the nature of the excitation mechanism(s). Details on the exposure times, S/N ratios and photon fluxes from lines and continuum are quoted in Table 1. Long slit spectroscopy of NGC6240 is unfortunately not possible, since the object is too faint to be detected in reasonable exposure times. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4. Justification of need for HST observations. It is very important to observe with high spatial resolution the region between the two close (2 arcsec) nuclei of NGC 6240, in order to reveal, for example, the presence of eventual giant HII regions whose typical dimensions are 100 pc. To this aim it is necessary to get images with a resolution which cannot be reached from the ground where the best resolutions are 1.0 arcsec. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6. Description of special calibration exposures. Dark time is required, since images with high signal to noise ratio are necessary for our purposes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 7. Data reduction and analysis plans. No special software is required, beyond the usual commands implemented in MIDAS. After a first phase of data analysis and reduction at the ST Sci, the final processing will take place at the P.I. Institute. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 10. Resources to be supplied by investigator's institution(s). VAX 750 + MIDAS + Graphical Capabilities. No students ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 13. Imaging of NGC 6240, an intermediate Seyfert galaxy with strong infrared excess, can give a key to understand whether nuclear activity can be induced by gravitational interaction and whether blisters of star formation are present in the interacting region. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 11. Address Information Page 3 Name: FERDINANDO MACCHETTO Category: PI Institution: SPACE TELESCOPE SCIENCE INSTITUTE Address: 3700 SAN MARTIN DRIVE City: BALTIMORE State: MD Zip Code: 21218 Country: USA Telephone: 410-338-4790 Telex (or e-mail): ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TARGET LIST a) Fixed Targets ID = 4074c [ 4] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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| | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 NGC6240 E, 320, 910 RA = 16H 52M 58.915S +/- 2000 V=7340 1 V=13.17 +/- 0.03, 0.02S, 3 B=13.98+/- 0.03 DEC = +2D 24' 01.02" +/- 4 U=14.17 +/- 0.03 0.25" 5 SURF(V)=20.5 6 F-LINE(4861)=1.7 +/- 0.2E-14 7 F-CONT(4861)=1.4 +/- 0.3E-15 8 F-LINE(3727)=5.2 +/- 0.1E-14 9 F-CONT(3727)=0.4 +/- 0.2E-15 10 F-LINE(5007)=2.6 +/- 0.1E-14 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ EXPOSURE LOGSHEET ID = 4074c [ 5] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 NGC6240 FOC/96 IMAGE 512X512 F502M 4950 6 600S 10 6 1 CYCLE 2 / 1-2 7 DARK TIME 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2 NGC6240 FOC/96 IMAGE 512X512 F437M 4290 6 600S 5 7 1 DARK TIME ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Summary Form for Proposal 4074c [ 6] Item Used in this proposal ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Configurations FOC/96 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Opmodes IMAGE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Optional Parameters ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Proposal for AUG/FOC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ S/C Hours 3.60 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Scientific Category QUASARS & AGN ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Scientific Sub-category OTHER ACTIVE NUCLEI ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Special Requirements CYCLE 2 / 1-2; DARK TIME; DARK TIME ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Spectral Elements F502M F437M ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Target Names NGC6240 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------