| NASA Center: |
Goddard Space Flight Center |
|---|
| Image # : |
94-HC-2
|
|---|
| Date : |
12/31/1993
|
|---|
|
Title
Hubble Images of M100 Before and After Mirror Repair
Full Description
This comparison image of the core of the galaxy M100 shows the
dramatic improvement in Hubble Space Telescope's view of the
universe after the first Hubble Servicing Mission in December 1993.
The new image, taken with the second generation Wide Field and
Planetary Camera (WFPC-2) installed during the STS-61 Hubble
Servicing Mission, beautifully demonstrates that the camera's
corrective optics compensate fully for the optical aberration in
Hubble's primary mirror. With the new camera, the Hubble explored
the universe with unprecedented clarity and sensitivity, and
fulfilled its most important scientific objectives for which the
telescope was originally built.
Image on right: The core of the grand design spiral glazy M100, as
imaged by WFPC-2 in its high-resolution channel. WRPC-2's modified
optics corrected Hubble's previously blurry vision, allowing the
telescope for the first time to cleanly resolve faint structures as
small as 30 light-years across in a galaxy tens of millions of
light-years away. The image was taken on December 31, 1993.
Image on left: For comparison, a picture taken with a WFPC-1 camera
in wide-field mode on November 27, 1993, just a few days prior to
the STS-61 servicing mission. The effects of optical aberration in
HST's 2.4-meter primary mirror blur starlight, smear out fine
detail, and limit the telescope's ability to see faint structure.
Both Hubble images were "raw," they were not processed using
computer image reconstruction techniques that improved aberrated
images made before the servicing mission. The Wide Field and
Planetary Camera-2 was developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
and managed by the Goddard Space Flight Center for NASA's Office of
Space Science.
Keywords
Wide Field Planetary Camera WFPC-2 STS 61 Hubble Space Telescope
M100 Hubble Servicing Mission
Subject Category
Hubble
Reference Numbers
- Center:
GSFC
- Center Number:
94-HC-2
- GRIN DataBase Number:
GPN-2002-000064
Source Information
- Creator/Photographer: NASA
- Original Source: DIGITAL
| Resolution | Format | Width
(Pixels) | Height
(Pixels) | Size
(KBytes) |
Thumbnail |
JPEG |
90 |
48 |
10 |
Small |
JPEG |
640 |
343 |
193 |
Medium |
JPEG |
1500 |
803 |
722 |
Large |
JPEG |
3000 |
1605 |
2,010 |
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• NASA Headquarters
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• NASA Image eXchange (NIX)
• NASA Multimedia Gallery
• NASA Human Spaceflight
Updated October 31, 2002
• History Questions: NASA History Office
• Responsible NASA Official: Steve Garber
• Author: Michael Hahn. Editor: Dwayne A. Day
• Curator & Technical Questions: Erin Needham
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