nasa’s great observatories “an astronomical mount rushmore”

NASA’s Great Observatories“an astronomical Mount Rushmore”

Spitzer Chandra

Compton Hubble

Gains in orbit

• No atmospheric blurring

• Wider accessible wavelength range

• Instrumental stability

• No clouds/daylight (timing)

HUBBLE

Past

…future?

Some HST Science highlights

• Structures of distant galaxies

Some HST Science highlights

• Structures of distant galaxies

• Hubble constant from Cepheid variable stars

Some HST Science highlights

• Structures of distant galaxies

• Hubble constant from Cepheid variable stars

• Black holes in (almost all) galactic nuclei

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

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

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

Supernova progenitor in M51

(Li et al. in press)

Gravitational microlensing in NGC 3314

Instrument history

1990: FGS HSP FOS GHRS FOC WF/PC1993: FGS CoSTAR FOS GHRS FOC WFPC21997: FGS CoSTAR NICMOS STIS FOC WFPC22002: FGS CoSTAR NICMOS STIS ACS WFPC2

200? COS, WFC3

Hubble status, August 2005

• Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph dead (only high-res/small-region spectrometer)• 3 of 6 gyros (RSUs) functional (3 normally needed, 2-

gyro mode successful in tests)• 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

UPDATE 31 AUG 05 – 2 GYROSDAILY REPORT     # 3934 PERIOD COVERED: UT August 29, 2005 (DOY 241)

All commanding for the transition to Two Gyro Science mode was successful. Commanding included modifying control law gains for T2G, loading FSW support files for TGS, modifying +D SPA commanding in new TGS safemode macros, transitioning to TGS mode, and performing a full RAM dump. Transition to TGS mode took place at 241/0217.The first FGS guide acquisition at 0812 was successful, as have all subsequent acquisitions. Jitter in F2G (FGS/2 Gyro mode) was measured at approximately 3 milliarcseconds. All three acquisitions performed have been successful with no LOL.

Options

• Shuttle SM4 (O’Keefe ruled out, CAIB concerns, Griffin optimistic)

• Replace the whole thing (HOP proposal to refly COS/WFC3)

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

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

• ~2015-30 estimated deorbit without boosting

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!

Final servicing status

• Current policy: do not preclude

• Depends on next (2?) STS flight results

• COS, WFC3, STIS repair, batteries, gyros

• Deorbit module status unclear

• Target: late 2007

Next up: JWST

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!

Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory

Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory

• Deployed April 1991 by Atlantis crew. Deorbited mid-2000.

• Distribution, distance of gamma-ray bursts

• Gamma-ray blazars, relativistic beaming

• Microquasars

• Radioisotopes in interstellar medium

• Successors: Swift, INTEGRAL, GLAST

And at other wavelengths…

Chandra and its complement XMM-Newton

The galactic-center black hole and its attendants

Hot gas between galaxies

The chemistry of a supernova

Fireball impact in Supernova 1987A

The history of black holes – a Chandra deep field

Spitzer Space Telescope

Spitzer Space Telescope

• Warm launch, radiative cooling

• Cryogen management, 2 years of 5+ so far

• Earth-trailing heliocentric orbit

• 2 cameras, 2 spectrographs, 3.6-160 m

Temperatures of extrasolar planets

Direct detection of IR from two “hot Jupiters” during eclipses, two wavelengths give temperature estimates

Looking into dusty star cradles

Across the spectrum - now

FarIR MidIR nearIR opt UV farUV X-ray gamma

Spitzer

Hubble Chandra

GALEX

FUSE

INTEGRAL

WMAP

Multispectral Greatest Hits

• 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

A panchromatic view -spiral galaxy M81

ROSATGALEXKitt PeakSpitzerVLA

Across the spectrum - soon

FarIR MidIR nearIR opt UV farUV X-ray gamma

Spitzer

Hubble? Chandra and XMM

GALEX?

FUSE? INTEGRAL

Planck

Herschel

Swift

SIMTPF?

JWST

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…