Hubble Space Telescope status and Solar System observing
Max Mutchler (STScI) NASA Astrophysics Assets Workshop at DPS National Harbor
10 November 2015
Observing the Solar System with Hubble
• Hubble’s is capable of observing almost any moving target in the Solar System, and can respond to transient events via mid-‐cycle Director’s Discre>onary (DD) proposals
• Hubble has a strong history of suppor>ng planetary missions • HST and JWST ground systems share some commonality
– Today: new moving target features for the Astronomer’s Proposal Tool (APT)
Observatory Systems Status
Science Instruments
ACS WFC opera>ng well. Charge transfer degrada>on correc>ons in place for WFC. No more high-‐res (HRC).
COS New blue mode extends λ to 900 Å. Far-‐UV sensi>vity remains excellent (ini>al decline has arrested).
STIS Opera>ng well. Imaging, spectroscopy, coronagraphy.
NICMOS Safed, warm.
WFC3 Visible and near-‐IR channels. Excellent stability, sensi>vity. Spa>al scanning available. Charge transfer correc>ons for UVIS channel. Persistence maps available for IR channel.
Fine Guidance Sensors Slow degrada>on being monitored, understood.
Electrical and Power System BaXeries and solar arrays -‐ no serious issues.
Poin>ng and Control System Gyros opera>ng beXer than expected – no serious issues.
Data Management System Lockups are rare (1-‐2x per year) and understood.
Thermal Control System Excellent, no serious issues.
One or more years of opera>ons overlap with JWST appears feasible at this >me.
Hubble is As Powerful As Ever Deep, precise, stable pan-‐chroma>c imaging
SliXed and slitless spectroscopy, coronagraphy, astrometry
Life stories of galaxies
Architecture of the universe
Recipes for building planets
Mysteries of dark maXer and dark energy
Births and deaths of stars
Hubble Science Output • 12,673 papers based on HST data through 2014 • 12,953 individuals have (co)authored a paper based on HST data • Roughly 40 PhD theses per year have been based on HST data
Year of Publica>on
Refereed
Papers p
er Year
Dawn
New Horizons
Pluto 2015
Hubble support for planetary missions… …including hazard mitigation!
Comet Siding Spring at Mars
Planning and visualizing HST and JWST Solar System observations with the Astronomers Proposal Tool (APT) and Aladin