David V. Baxter

Discovery of an optical synchrotron jet in 3C 264

We report the discovery of a new optical synchrotron jet in the radio galaxy 3C 15. This brings to nine the number of known optical synchrotron jets in nearby radio galaxies. The jet is well resolved in both length and width and extends to a projected metric distance of ~5 kpc from the galaxy nucleus. The host galaxy shows complex inner structure, including a dust lane and what appears to be two, or possibly three, emission filaments or arms. On average the optical jet is bluer than the host galaxy by about 0.4 mag. Unlike other galaxies hosting optical jets, the core of the galaxy does not possess a bright, unresolved nucleus, suggesting that the active galactic nucleus is presently inactive or buried in dust. The radio-optical spectral index, αro ~ 1, is the softest yet observed for radio galaxies with optical jets. The observed disturbances in the nuclear regions are indicative of a recent merger or infall possibly resulting in the ejection of material along the jet.

Preliminary analysis of an ultraviolet Hubble Space Telescope faint object camera image of the center of M31

A 5161 s exposure was taken with the FOC on the central 44 arcsec of M31, through a filter centered at 1750 A. Much of the light is redleak from visible wavelengths, but nearly half of it is genuine UV. The image shows the same central peak found earlier by Stratoscope, with a somewhat steeper dropoff outside that peak. More than 100 individual objects are seen, some pointlike and some slightly extended. We identify them as post-asymptotic giant branch stars, some of them surrounded by a contribution from their accompanying planetary nebulae. These objects contribute almost a fifth of the total UV light, but fall far short of accounting for all of it. We suggest that the remainder may result from the corresponding evolutionary tracks in a population more metal-rich than solar.

First results from the Faint Object Camera : high-resolution observations of the central object R136 in the 30 Doradus nebula

R136 is the luminous central object of the giant H II region 30 Doradus in the Large Magellanic Cloud. We report on the first high-resolution observations of R136 with the Faint Object Camera on board the Hubble Space Telescope. The physical nature of the brightest component R136a has been a matter of some controversy over the last few years. The UV images obtained show that R131a is a very compact star cluster consisting of more than eight stars within 0″.7 diameter. From these high-resolution images a mass upper limit can be derived for the most luminous stars observed in R136

Faint Object Camera far-ultraviolet objective prism observations of 12 z>3 quasars

We present the first results of an exploratory objective prism survey of the far-ultraviolet (λλ1200-1800) spectra of high-redshift quasars obtained with the Faint Object Camera on-board the Hubble Space Telescope. The prime objective of this survey is to identify one or more candidates among the known quasars at z em >3 with sufficient flux at far-ultraviolet wavelengths to enable detailed follow-up observations of redshifted intergalactic He II λ304 absorption using the HST grating spectrographs. FOC prism observations of 12 prime candidates selected for redshift (z em ≃3.03-3.66), brightness (V≤18.5) and the appearance of their optical absorption spectra are presented and discussed

First results from the faint object camera - High-resolution imaging of the Pluto-Charon system

The first observations of a solar system target with the Faint Object Camera of the HST are reported. Observations of the Pluto-Charon system were obtained in f/96 and f/288 mode. Pluto and Charon were clearly resolved, and the observed separation and diameters are in accordance with expectations. The f/96 data were astrometrically and photometrically analyzed; preliminary results are presented.