Engineering:Wide Field and Planetary Camera

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Short description: Former instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope
For the low-power radio station in Rindge, New Hampshire, see WFPC-LP.
Wide Field and Planetary Camera view of Jupiter, 1991
WFPC image of Messier 100 (NGC 4321)

The Wide Field/Planetary Camera (WFPC, pronounced as "wiffpick") was a camera installed on the Hubble Space Telescope launched in April 1990 and operated until December 1993. It was one of the instruments on Hubble at launch, but its functionality was severely impaired by the defects of the main mirror optics which afflicted the telescope. However, it produced uniquely valuable high resolution images of relatively bright astronomical objects, allowing for a number of discoveries to be made by HST even in its aberrated condition.

WFPC was proposed by James A. Westphal, a professor of planetary science at Caltech, and was designed, constructed, and managed by JPL. At the time it was proposed, 1976, CCDs had barely been used for astronomical imaging, though the first KH-11 KENNEN reconnaissance satellite equipped with CCDs for imaging was launched in December 1976.[1] The high sensitivity offered such promise that many astronomers strongly argued that CCDs should be considered for Hubble Space Telescope instrumentation.

This first WFPC consisted of two separate cameras, each comprising four 800×800 pixel Texas Instruments CCDs arranged to cover a contiguous field of view. The Wide Field camera had a 0.1 arcsecond per pixel resolution and was intended for the panoramic observations of faint sources at the cost of angular resolution. The Planetary Camera had a 0.043 arcsecond per pixel resolution and was intended for high-resolution observations. Selection between the two cameras was done with a four-facetted pyramid that rotated by 45 degrees.[2]

As part of the corrective service mission (STS-61 in December 1993) the WFPC was swapped out for a replacement version. The Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 improved on its predecessor and incorporated corrective optics needed to overcome the main mirror defect. To avoid potential confusion, the WFPC is now most commonly referred to as WFPC1.

On its return to Earth, the WFPC was disassembled and parts of it were used in Wide Field Camera 3,[3] which was installed in Hubble on May 14, 2009, as part of Servicing Mission 4, replacing WFPC2.

Specifications

Astronauts practice replacing the WFPC on Earth in water tank to simulate working in space in 1993. The model being used is a full-scale training version of the WFPC

The instrument had two different cameras within, the Wide Field and the Planetary Camera.[4] The Wide Field camera had a wider field of view compared to the Planetary Camera.[4] Both cameras have a light wavelength detection range of 115 to 1000 nm.[4]

Wide Field Camera

This instrument has a field of view of 2.6 x 2.6 arcminutes and an f-stop of f/12.9. It's equipped with 49 filters:[5]

Wide Field Camera filter set[5]
Name nm
min max peak
F194W 162.97 281.37 208.81
F230W 197.46 291.22 235.82
F284W 224.83 353.33 285.24
F336W 290.76 381.94 336.96
F368M 345.69 404.00 371.66
F375N 365.18 388.30 376.27
F157W 124.26 1024.19 294.68
F413M 387.07 440.16 412.76
F437N 433.12 439.58 436.67
F439W 392.84 479.18 435.36
F469N 464.69 472.53 468.71
F487N 482.35 491.12 486.99
F492M 457.64 527.34 490.63
F502N 497.38 506.10 501.85
G450 318.83 673.03 488.17
F517N 506.25 528.86 516.99
F122M 115.02 1058.32 441.22
F547M 504.75 589.22 545.23
G200 159.99 1049.96 482.07
F555W 444.24 712.01 540.00
F569W 482.20 705.66 558.06
F588N 581.08 594.40 587.98
F606W 452.50 737.56 580.36
F622W 532.31 751.58 611.44
F631N 625.44 635.04 630.62
F648M 609.05 690.78 646.34
F656N 652.73 658.47 655.83
F658N 654.54 660.20 657.71
F664N 647.01 680.26 664.01
F673N 662.51 680.21 672.26
F675W 592.30 772.69 666.27
F8ND 199.34 1068.46 567.85
POL0 199.34 1068.46 567.85
POL120 199.34 1068.46 567.85
POL60 199.34 1068.46 567.85
F128LP 200.30 1068.57 570.52
F702W 583.31 895.14 683.13
F718M 662.88 786.74 714.82
G800 555.11 1068.06 721.27
F791W 681.68 937.55 784.38
F814W 683.90 1013.82 803.42
F875M 821.62 944.75 875.49
F889N 881.31 896.43 888.92
F725LP 698.61 1078.80 838.40
F785LP 755.99 1083.60 887.16
F850LP 822.09 1084.32 928.94
F1083N 1071.00 1092.88 1082.98
F1042M 961.00 1094.67 1026.28

Planetary Camera

This instrument has a field of view of 66 x 66 arcseconds and an f-stop of f/30, corresponding to a smallest pixel scale of 0.043 arcsecond (unit of degree). It's equipped with 49 filters:[6]

Planetary Camera filter set[6]
Name nm
min max peak
G200M2 114.6 197.5 155.5
F194W 162.8 284.6 207.8
F230W 194.8 295.0 236.2
F284W 228.2 363.7 289.2
F336W 291.3 382.2 339.0
F368M 345.8 404.0 371.8
F375N 365.2 388.3 376.3
F413M 387.1 440.3 413.0
F437N 433.1 439.6 436.7
F439W 393.1 479.3 436.8
F469N 464.7 472.5 468.7
F487N 482.4 491.1 487.0
F492M 457.8 527.4 491.0
F502N 497.4 506.1 501.9
G450 321.6 673.2 494.1
F517N 506.3 528.9 517.0
F157W 125.1 1047.7 377.8
F547M 504.8 589.2 545.2
F555W 444.5 713.4 541.1
F569W 482.3 706.0 558.3
F588N 581.1 594.4 588.0
G200 181.7 1054.8 514.4
F606W 452.9 737.9 581.6
F622W 532.3 752.4 611.9
F122M 117.6 1069.1 504.8
F631N 625.5 635.0 630.6
F648M 609.1 690.9 646.5
F656N 652.7 658.5 655.8
F658N 654.5 660.2 657.7
F664N 647.0 680.3 664.0
F673N 662.5 680.2 672.3
F675W 592.4 773.0 666.9
F702W 583.3 897.0 684.2
F718M 662.9 786.9 715.0
F8ND 213.2 1078.9 589.4
POL0 213.2 1078.9 589.4
POL120 213.2 1078.9 589.4
POL60 213.2 1078.9 589.4
F128LP 214.5 1079.2 591.8
G800 555.2 1077.0 725.9
F791W 681.7 938.8 785.0
F814W 684.0 1015.6 805.2
F875M 821.8 945.0 876.0
F889N 881.3 896.4 888.9
F725LP 698.7 1088.5 842.3
F785LP 756.1 1090.9 890.9
F850LP 822.4 1091.0 931.9
F1083N 1071.0 1092.9 1083.0
F1042M 962.3 1095.7 1028.9


First light image

Here is the first light image for the Wide Field and Planetary Camera of HST, taken in May 1990; this view is near star HD96755 in the open cluster NGC 3532.[7] This view is 11 by 14 arcseconds of the sky.[7]

Replacement

Although there was nothing known to be wrong with this instrument, the spherical aberration in HST's mirror severely limited the performance. WFPC was replaced by the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 which included its own internal corrective optics. WFPC2 was replaced by the Wide Field Camera 3 in 2009. After return to Earth, WFPC was disassembled and its parts cannibalized to make WFC3.

The Wide Field and Planetary Camera in space while it was being exchanged for Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 during STS-61, 1993
On the left, an un-corrected WFPC image of M100 in November 1993, next to an image by its replacement instrument with corrected optics

See also

References

  1. ↑ "NRO review and redaction guide". National Reconnaissance Office. http://www.fas.org/irp/nro/declass.pdf. 
  2. ↑ The Space Telescope Observatory (Technical report). NASA. 1982. CP-2244., page 28. 40 MB PDF file.
  3. ↑ "WFC3 - Wide Field Camera 3". ESA. http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=34007&fbodylongid=1926. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Hubble's Instruments: WFPC1 - Wide Field and Planetary Camera 1". https://www.spacetelescope.org/about/general/instruments/wfpc1/. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "SVO Filter Profile Service". https://svo2.cab.inta-csic.es/svo/theory/////fps3/index.php?mode=browse&gname=HST&gname2=WFPC1-WF&asttype=. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "SVO Filter Profile Service". https://svo2.cab.inta-csic.es/svo/theory/////fps3/index.php?mode=browse&gname=HST&gname2=WFPC1-PC&asttype=. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "HubbleSite: Image - First Image Taken by Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera". http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1990/04/image/a/. 



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