Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope
Encyclopedia
The Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) was a space telescope designed to make spectroscopic observations in the far-ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum
. It was flown into orbit on the Space Shuttle
and operated from the Shuttle's payload bay on two occasions: in December 1990, as part of Shuttle mission STS-35
, and in March 1995, as part of mission STS-67
.
HUT was designed and built by a team based at Johns Hopkins University
, led by Arthur Davidsen. The telescope consisted of a 90 cm main mirror used to focus ultraviolet light onto a spectrograph situated at the prime focus. This instrument had a spectroscopic range of 82.5 to 185 nms, and a spectral resolution of about 0.3 nm.
HUT was used to observe a wide range of astrophysical sources, including supernova remnants, active galactic nuclei, cataclysmic variable stars, as well as various planets in our Solar System
. During the 1990 flight, HUT was used to make 106 observations of 77 astronomical targets. During the 1995 flight, 385 observations were made of 265 targets.
HUT was co-mounted with WUPPE, HIT, and BBXRT
on the Astro-1 mission (1990) and with just WUPPE and HIT on Astro-2 (in 1995).
Electromagnetic spectrum
The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all possible frequencies of electromagnetic radiation. The "electromagnetic spectrum" of an object is the characteristic distribution of electromagnetic radiation emitted or absorbed by that particular object....
. It was flown into orbit on the Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
and operated from the Shuttle's payload bay on two occasions: in December 1990, as part of Shuttle mission STS-35
STS-35
-Crew notes:Prior to the Challenger disaster, this mission was slated to launch in March 1986 as STS-61-E. Jon McBride was originally assigned to command this mission, which would have been his second spaceflight. He chose to retire from NASA in May 1989 and was replaced as mission commander by...
, and in March 1995, as part of mission STS-67
STS-67
STS-67 was a human spaceflight mission using that launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida on 2 March 1995.-Crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass: payload*Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 28.5°*Period: 91.5 min...
.
HUT was designed and built by a team based at Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
, led by Arthur Davidsen. The telescope consisted of a 90 cm main mirror used to focus ultraviolet light onto a spectrograph situated at the prime focus. This instrument had a spectroscopic range of 82.5 to 185 nms, and a spectral resolution of about 0.3 nm.
HUT was used to observe a wide range of astrophysical sources, including supernova remnants, active galactic nuclei, cataclysmic variable stars, as well as various planets in our Solar System
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
. During the 1990 flight, HUT was used to make 106 observations of 77 astronomical targets. During the 1995 flight, 385 observations were made of 265 targets.
HUT was co-mounted with WUPPE, HIT, and BBXRT
Broad Band X-ray Telescope
The Broad Band X-ray Telescope was flown on the space shuttle Columbia on 1990 December 2-December 11, as part of the ASTRO-1 payload...
on the Astro-1 mission (1990) and with just WUPPE and HIT on Astro-2 (in 1995).
External links
- HUT webpage at Johns Hopkins University