NSSDCA ID: 1990-037B-08
Mission Name: HSTThe faint-object camera (FOC), which operates at a high focal ratio, uses an imaging camera with a two-dimensional photon-event counting detector, and is able to detect objects that are 50 times fainter than those observable with the most powerful earthbased telescope. The FOC has a minimum format of 64 by 64 pixels. Based on a pixel size of 25 by 25 micrometers, a focal ratio of approximately f/96 is required to exploit the spatial resolving power of the HST. At that focal ratio, the pixel size is 0.022 by 0.022 arc-s. For imagery and photometry of very faint stars and extended sources, cumulative exposures are required to obtain a useful signal-to-noise ratio. The FOC wavelength range is 1200 to 7000 A. The observable range for point sources is from 21st to 28th visual magnitude, and for extended sources is the equivalent of from 15th to 22nd visual magnitude over an area of one sq arc-s.
Mass: 320 kg
Power (avg): 150 W
Questions and comments about this experiment can be directed to: Coordinated Request and User Support Office
Name | Role | Original Affiliation | |
---|---|---|---|
Dr. F. Duccio Macchetto | Principal Investigator | European Space Agency | macchetto@stsci.edu |
Dr. A. Boksenberg | Team Member | Royal Greenwich Observatory | boksy@ast.cam.ac.uk |
Prof. Hendrik C. Van de Hulst | Team Member | Netherlands Institute | |
Dr. T. M. Kamperman | Team Member | Astronomical Institute | |
Prof. Ivan R. King | Team Member | University of California, Berkeley | |
Dr. Francesco Paresce | Team Member | Space Telescope Science Institute | paresce@stsci.edu |
Dr. Rudolf Albrecht | Team Member | European Space Telescope Coordinating Facility, Munich | ralbrech@eso.org |
Prof. Cesare Barbieri | Team Member | Instituto di Astronomia | barbieri@pd.astro.it |
Dr. Jean-Michel Deharveng | Team Member | CNRS, Laboratoire d'Astronomie Spatiale | |
Prof. M. J. Disney | Team Member | University College, Cardiff | |
Dr. C. D. Mackay | Team Member | University of Cambridge | |
Dr. R. N. Wilson | Team Member | European Southern Observatory, Switzerland | |
Dr. Patrick C. Crane | Team Member | European Southern Observatory, Munich | crane@susim.nrl.navy.mil |
Dr. Peter Jakobsen | Team Member | ESA-European Space Research and Technology Centre | pjakobse@astro.estec.esa.nl |
Mr. J. Chris Blades | Team Member | Space Telescope Science Institute | blades@stsci.edu |