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The Wondrous Properties and Results of the HST. C. R. O’Dell Department of Physics and Astronomy Vanderbilt University Summer School-2008. Reasons for going into Space.
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The Wondrous Properties and Results of the HST. C. R. O’Dell Department of Physics and Astronomy Vanderbilt University Summer School-2008
Reasons for going into Space • Earth’s Atmosphere Blurs Out our View even when it is perfectly clear. This means that our view of the heavens is like that from a small telescope. • Usually a bigger telescope produces a sharper image. The HST images are 20X better than what is allowed by our Atmosphere. • The atmosphere also limits the energies of the photons that we can see.
Schedule HistoryRichard Tresch Fienberg 1990, Sky & Tel, April Issue
The HST was the first Spacecraft designed for Orbital Maintenance.
Servicing Missions • SM1-12/93 COSTAR, WFPC2,Solar Arrays • SM2-02/97 STIS,NICMOS,FGS • SM3A-12/99 FGS,Gyros,Computer • SM3B-03/02 ACS, SolarArrays, CryoCooler • SM4-05/09 WFC3,Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, ACS & STIS Repair, Batteries,Gyros,FGS, etc.
InstrumentComplement. • Launch :WF/PC FOC GHRS FOS HSP • SM1-93 :WFPC2 “ “ “ COSTAR • SM2-97 : “ “ STIS NICMOS “ • SM3A-99: “ “ “ “ “ • SM3B-02: “ ACS “ “ “ • SM4-09 :WFC3 “ “ “ COS
Orion movie • Goes here
James Webb Space Telescope 6.5-meter effective aperture (HST is 2.4-m) Images will be not as sharp as the HST. Primarily will target COLD objects. Now in final design phases. Scheduled launch is in 2012 (similar space- craft have taken 10 years from this point.
Reading Material • “The Space Telescope” by Robert W. Smith. Cambridge University Press, 1989(pre-launch) & 1993(post-launch). • “The Orion Nebula” by C. Robert O’Dell, Harvard University Press, 2003 (Chapter 10).
A Summary • The HST represents the results of some 20 years of effort of an important fraction of US and European scientists. • Thus far we have 19 years of return on this investment, with a promise of much more. • Clearly, this has been the most powerful telescope ever built. • There’s plenty of room for a new generation of scientists to do even better.