Astronomer proposes Hubble replacement
Thursday, January 6, 2005
Colin A. Norman, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University, testifying before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science February 2nd, presented the Hubble Origins Probe (HOP) as a replacement for the Hubble Space Telescope.
Concerning the shuttle’s estimated one billion dollar cost and 65 monthtime-frame for deployment to earth orbit, Norman said: “Thegroundbreaking science, the cutting edge technology generated inthe development of new instrumentation, the ability of Hubblescience to engage the interest of the public, and its impact onthe imagination of students, make it worthwhile to invest thissum of public funds to complete the last chapter of Hubble’sremarkable legacy.”
HOP will tackle three of the most central intellectual issues ofour age; the nature of dark energy, the natureand distribution of dark matter, and theprevalence of planets, including earths, around other stars.
Norman noted during the testimony that HOP would be, essentially,a lighter copy of the Hubble Space Telescope and would includetwo instruments that were scheduled for installation on theHubble: the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS), the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), plus the new Very Wide Field Imager (VWFI) to be paid for and provided by Japan.
The VWFI has a field of view 17 times greater the advancedcamera on board the Hubble now, and is 3-4 times more sensitiveat critical wavelengths. This will provide for mapping 20 timesfaster than achievable by the Hubble at present.
The COS would make possible the identification of the invisibleportion of “ordinary matter,” potentially residing in giganticgas clouds discovered by theChandra X-ray Telescope.
“The WFC3 has greatly enhanced power for discovery in the blue andthe red region of the spectrum and will significantly enhancestudies of galaxies and stars. Its infrared capability isessential to studies of dark energy,” Norman added.
“The decision is obvious. We must continue with theHubble adventure to explore these great questionsfurther, to understand more fully our remarkableUniverse and our place in it. We must do this withintense determination and energy and thus continue toinspire new generations with the wonder and thrill ofexploration and discovery,” concluded Norman.
Colin Norman was educated at the University of Melbourne andOxford University. He has been a professor of physics andastronomy at Johns Hopkins University and astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute since 1984.