! Proposal 6744, submission 1 ! PI: M. H. van Kerkwijk ! Received Thu Feb 1 22:48:30 EST 1996 ! From: mhvk@astro.caltech.edu ! Hubble Space Telescope Cycle 6 (1996) Phase II Proposal Template ! $Id: 6744,v 3.1 1996/02/05 16:51:50 pepsa Exp $ ! Hubble Space Telescope Cycle 6 (1996) Phase II Proposal Template ! $Id: 6744,v 3.1 1996/02/05 16:51:50 pepsa Exp $ ! ! Refer to the HST Phase II Proposal Instructions to fill this out ! ! Anything after a "!" is ignored, and may be deleted ! ! All keywords with multiple entries are comma delimited except the ! Visit_Requirements and Special_Requirements keywords which can be ! delimited with carriage returns or semi-colons, but not commas ! ! For help call your Program Coordinator: Ready ! Phone: 410-338-4546 , E-mail: ready@stsci.edu ! ! This partially completed template was generated from a Phase I proposal. ! Name of Phase I Proposal: archive-0906.van_kerkwijk.pro ! Date generated: Fri Dec 22 17:44:42 EST 1995 ! Proposal_Information ! Section 4 Title: Fundamental properties of the pulsar/white-dwarf binary PSR B1855+09 Proposal_Category: GO Scientific_Category: HOT STARS Cycle: 6 Investigators PI_name: M. H. van Kerkwijk PI_Institution: California Institute of Technology CoI_Name: V. M. Kaspi CoI_Institution: IPAC/Caltech/JPL Contact: ! Y or N (designate at most one contact) CoI_Name: S. R. Kulkarni CoI_Institution: California Institute of Technology Contact: ! Y or N (designate at most one contact) CoI_Name: J. F. Bell CoI_Institution: Jodrell Bank Contact: ! Y or N (designate at most one contact) CoI_Name: A. R. Klemola CoI_Institution: Lick Observatory Contact: ! Y or N (designate at most one contact) Abstract: ! Free format text (please update) We propose to obtain a broad-band image of the field of the millisecond pulsar B1855+09, to identify the white-dwarf companion. The PSR B1855+09 system is unique. It is the only one for which Shapiro delay of the pulsed signal has yielded an accurate mass determination of the white dwarf (M_WD=0.258^+0.028_-0.016 Msun), and it is the only pulsar for which a parallax has been measured. If the temperature of the white dwarf were known as well, then the system would offer an unprecedented opportunity for quantitative comparisons between the theoretical and observational properties of a low-mass helium white dwarf, which would allow one to constrain the interior structure and atmosphere of the white dwarf, to determine the cooling age of the white dwarf, and to constrain the age of the pulsar. At its low Galactic latitude, the companion has eluded detection until the appearance of the Keck telescope, with which we have found a candidate counterpart. We hope to confirm the identification with this HST observation. Questions ! Free format text (please update) Observing_Description: We plan to observe the field of PSR B1855+09 in the Planetary Camera for 1 orbit in the F555W filter, obtaining three integrations of 800 seconds. Following the technique described by Freudling (1995) (see also ST-ECF News Letter 22), the three integrations will be taken at dithered positions, in order to limit systematic effects in the photometry, while allowing for the efficient rejection of cosmic ray hits. Real_Time_Justification: Calibration_Justification: ! Move appropriate text from Real_Time_Justification Additional_Comments: Fixed_Targets ! Section 5.1 Target_Number: 1 Target_Name: STAR-185736+094317 Alternate_Names: PSR-B1855+09 Description: STAR, PULSAR, BINARY PULSAR Position: RA=18H 57M 36.393S +/- 0.001S, DEC=+09D 43' 17.32" +/- 0.01" ! Most common specification format is ! RA=0H 0M 0.00S +/- 0S, ! DEC=0D 0' 0.0" +/- 0", ! PLATE-ID=0000 Equinox: 2000 RV_or_Z: RA_PM: ! Units are seconds of time per year Dec_PM: ! Units are seconds of arc per year Epoch: Annual_Parallax: Flux: R=25.1 +/- 0.2, V-R=0.5 +/- 0.5 ! Include at least V and B-V Comments: Only R is known; color is best estimate ! This is a template for a single visit containing a single exposure ! Repeat exposure and visit blocks as needed Visits ! Section 6 Visit_Number: 1 Visit_Requirements: ! Section 7.1 ! Uncomment or copy visit level special requirements needed ! Most of these requirements (including ORIENT) will limit scheduling ! PCS MODE [Fine | Gyro] ! GUIDing TOLerance ! DROP TO GYRO IF NECESSARY [NO REACQuisition] ! ORIENTation TO ! ORIENTation TO FROM ! ORIENTation TO FROM NOMINAL ! SAME ORIENTation AS ! CVZ ! PARallel ! SCHEDulability ! AFTER [BY [TO ]] ! AFTER ! BEFORE ! BETWEEN AND ! GROUP WITHIN