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HUBBLE

HUBBLE. Past …future?. Spitzer. Chandra. NASA’s Great Observatories “an astronomical Mount Rushmore”. Compton. Hubble. Gains in orbit. No atmospheric blurring Wider accessible wavelength range Instrumental stability No clouds/daylight (timing).

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HUBBLE

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  1. HUBBLE Past …future?

  2. Spitzer Chandra NASA’s Great Observatories “an astronomical Mount Rushmore” Compton Hubble

  3. Gains in orbit • No atmospheric blurring • Wider accessible wavelength range • Instrumental stability • No clouds/daylight (timing)

  4. Some HST Science highlights • Structures of distant galaxies

  5. Some HST Science highlights • Structures of distant galaxies • Hubble constant from Cepheid variable stars

  6. Some HST Science highlights • Structures of distant galaxies • Hubble constant from Cepheid variable stars • Black holes in (almost all) galactic nuclei

  7. Some HST Science highlights • Structures of distant galaxies • Hubble constant from Cepheid variable stars • Black holes in (almost all) galactic nuclei • Protoplanetary material near young stars

  8. Some HST Science highlights • Structures of distant galaxies • Hubble constant from Cepheid variable stars • Black holes in (almost all) galactic nuclei • Protoplanetary material near young stars • Gravitational lenses

  9. Some HST Science highlights • Structures of distant galaxies • Hubble constant from Cepheid variable stars • Black holes in (almost all) galactic nuclei • Protoplanetary material near young stars • Gravitational lenses • Intergalactic gas and its history • Stuff scattered all the way through the textbooks

  10. Instrument history • 1990: FGS HSP FOS GHRS FOC WF/PC • 1993: FGS CoSTAR FOS GHRS FOC WFPC2 • : FGS CoSTAR NICMOS STIS FOC WFPC2 • 2002: FGS CoSTAR NICMOS STIS ACS WFPC2 • 200? COS, WFC3

  11. Hubble status, Sept. 2004 • Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph dead (only high-res/small-region spectrometer) • 3 of 6 gyros (RSUs) functional (3 needed for full tracking, some observations with 2) • Battery capacity decreasing (will be useless circa 2010) • Estimated 50% failure time on above: 2007 • Instrument/transmitter power cycling now reduced by rescheduling/eliminating parallel imaging

  12. Options • Shuttle SM4 (O’Keefe ruled out, CAIB concerns) • Robotic mission (new tech, some changeouts very risky) • Replace the whole thing (HOP proposal to refly COS/WFC3)

  13. Shuttle? • “Safe haven” would mean standby orbiter • Limited remaining flights earmarked to ISS • Need for independent orbital inspection • Victim of the Vision? • Orbital mechanics: 28.5-degree inclination, getting heaviest payloads highest from Cape Canaveral, restricts options now

  14. Servicing non-options • Prohibitive energy requirements to co-orbit with ISS in reach of astronauts • 28-degree orbit out of reach from Baikonur (ITAR restrictions aside) • Ion thrusters would take the estimated telescope lifetime for orbit change • ~2015 estimated deorbit without boosting

  15. Robotics/teleoperation? • Canadian ISS arm not required yet – “spare” • Some tasks straightforward, actually robotic plus teleoperations mission • Double big/small arm • Robot docking/deorbit committed already • Tests make this look possible • 2-piece spacecraft, Delta/Atlas launch • 2007 a challenge; budget is ballooning • Political aspects re pinning blame

  16. Solar array connectors

  17. Replace capabilities? • Technology since 1980: lots cheaper. Thin flexible mirrors, lightweight structures, stabilize mirrors rather than structure… • Unique access to optical/UV range • Plan on table to fly 2.4m mirror with existing HST instruments (Hubble Origins Probe or HOP); could be as low as $250M. • Need to decide who gets the instruments!

  18. Next up: JWST

  19. James Webb Space Telescope • Launch 2011, on Ariane V, to L2 region • 6.5m deployable primary • 0.6-20 microns (far red to mid-IR) • Key problems: formation of galaxies, first stars, maybe planets • Spacecraft weight/mirror area ratio roughly that of Hubble mirror alone!

  20. And at other wavelengths… Chandra and its complement XMM-Newton

  21. Across the spectrum - now FarIR MidIR nearIR opt UV farUV X-ray gamma FUSE INTEGRAL Spitzer GALEX WMAP Hubble Chandra

  22. Intergalactic gas Starburst galaxies High-redshift galaxies Evaporating planets Protoplanetary disks Growth of black holes Complexity of stardeath Gamma-ray bursts Supernova chemistry Quasar jets Stripped galaxies Pregalactic lumps Galaxy history Relativistic jets Multispectral Greatest Hits

  23. A panchromatic view -spiral galaxy M81 ROSAT GALEX Kitt Peak Spitzer VLA

  24. Across the spectrum - soon FarIR MidIR nearIR opt UV farUV X-ray gamma JWST FUSE? INTEGRAL Spitzer Swift GALEX? Planck Hubble? Chandra and XMM SIM TPF? Herschel

  25. A new Universe to explore • The full electromagnetic spectrum • Open international competition for observations • Public data archives (without mailing tapes!) • The beginnings of the Virtual Observatory • But astronomers think about facilities differently from NASA and ESA…

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