FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Photo from STIS calibration system.
'Hubble's Helpers' - McPherson instruments help calibrate Cosmic Origin Spectrograph
McPherson, Inc. (Chelmsford, MA USA) instruments helped calibrate space flight systems for the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS.)
Now McPherson instruments are called to work on the Hubble Space Telescope's new eye in the ultraviolet, the Cosmic Origin Spectrograph (COS.) COS is undergoing extensive pre-flight test and characterization, in preparation for a ride on the space shuttle during service mission 4 to the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope. The COS optics and sub systems are being tested on the ground, at deep ultraviolet wavelengths normally only accessible in the vacuum of space. The team doing the work comes from the University of Colorado Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy (CASA.)
CASA contracted McPherson, Inc., a manufacturer of vacuum compatible instrumentation for measuring wavelengths of light, to provide a system to perform spectral test and calibration on the COS optical train. The McPherson system helps characterize and document the spectral and radiometric response of COS to specific wavelengths, a critical step to interpret the resulting imagery. The instrumentation includes a vacuum monochromator and beam delivery optics for work in the 115 to 300nm wavelength region. The CASA teams Instrument Specialist, Dr. Steve Osterman, uses the McPherson system. The Cosmic Origin Spectrograph is being deployed for efficient observation of faint extragalactic and galactic ultraviolet targets, these efforts complement instruments currently on the Hubble Space Telescope.