The Faint Object Camera

R. J. Laurance; J. Evans

doi:10.1117/12.969695

1 April 1990 The Faint Object Camera

R. J. Laurance, J. Evans

Proceedings Volume 1191, Optical Systems for Space and Defence; (1990) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.969695
Event: SIRA/Optical Systems for Space and Defence, 1989, London, United Kingdom

Abstract

nulNASA's Hubble Space Telescope is an astronomical observatory to be placed in a nominally circular orbit at approximately 610 km (330nm) altitude, well above the obscuring layers of the atmosphere, by the Space Shuttle in March next year. The Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA) is the core of the Space Telescope and includes the 2.4 metre, f/24, Ritchey-Chretien Cassegrain-type telescope. The Faint Object Camera (FOC) is a long focal ratio, photon counting instrument designed to take high resolution two dimensional images of areas of the sky up to 44 by "44 arcseconds square in size with pixel dimensions as small as 0.0075 arcseconds squared in the 115nm to 650nm wavelength range. Its performance approaches that of an ideal imaging system at low light levels and it will be the only camera on board the HST to utilise fully the unprecedented spatial resolution capabilities of the Optical Telescope Assembly. The FOC is one of the European Space Agency's contributions to the HST programme.

Citation Download Citation

R. J. Laurance and J. Evans "The Faint Object Camera", Proc. SPIE 1191, Optical Systems for Space and Defence, (1 April 1990); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.969695

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