Legacy Instruments Overview
The following HST instruments are retired and no longer operational.
Data can be found on the MAST Archive and additional instrument documentation can be found in the Handbook Archive.
Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer
The Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) provided imaging capabilities in broad, medium, and narrow band filters, broad-band imaging polarimetry, coronographic imaging, and slitless grism spectroscopy, in the wavelength range 0.8-2.5 microns. NICMOS had three adjacent but not contiguous cameras, designed to operate independently, each with a dedicated array at a different magnification scale. NICMOS was installed during Servicing Mission 2. It was operational from 1997 to 1999 and from 2002 until 2008. NICMOS data can be found on the MAST Archive.
Wide Field Planetary Camera 2
The Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) was used to obtain high resolution images of astronomical objects over a relatively wide field of view and a broad range of wavelengths (1150 to 11,000 Å). WFPC2 was installed during the first HST Servicing Mission in 1993 and removed during Servicing Mission 4 in 2009. WFPC2 data can be found on the MAST Archive.
- WFPC2 Instrument Handbook
- WFPC2 Data Handbook
- WFPC2 Data Analysis Tutorial
- WFPC2 Instrument Science Reports
Wide Field/Planetary Camera
The Wide Field/Planetary Camera (WF/PC-1) was used from April 1990 to November 1993, to obtain high resolution images of astronomical objects over a relatively wide field of view and a broad range of wavelengths (1150 to 11,000 Angstroms).
WF/PC-1 was replaced by WFPC2 during the First Servicing Mission to HST in 1993. Consequently, WF/PC-1 data is only available through the MAST Archive.
Faint Object Camera
The Faint Object Camera (FOC) was one of the 4 original axial instruments aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The FOC was designed to take imaging observations of astrophysical sources from the near ultraviolet to the near infrared (1150 to 6500 Angstroms). The instrument was removed from HST during Servicing Mission 3B in March, 2002. FOC data can be found on the MAST Archive.
Faint Object Spectrograph
The Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS) was one of the 4 original axial instruments aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The FOS was designed to make spectroscopic observations of astrophysical sources from the near ultraviolet to the near infrared (1150 - 8000 Angstroms). The instrument was removed from HST during the Second Servicing Mission in February 1997. Consequently, FOS observations can no longer be requested, and only Archival Research programs to make use of FOS data may be submitted.
The Post-Operational Archives (POA) branch of the Space Telescope - European Coordinating Facility (ST-ECF) took over the main responsibility for FOS. Their web pages contain all of the information that was previously on the old STScI FOS pages, supplemented with more recent FOS news, including an improved version of the FOS calibration pipeline (POA_CALFOS), which replaces CALFOS in the standard IRAF/STSDAS FOS calibration pipeline. With the close of the ST-ECF STScI once again hosts FOS documentation using a copy of the ST-ECF website.
All FOS data have been recalibrated by ST-ECF and were ingested into the STScI MAST Archive in the summer of 2004. The data are also available from the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre (CADC).
- FOS Handbook
- FOS Data Handbook
- FOS Instrument Science Reports
- FOS Post-Operational Archives
- FOS Document Archive
- Lyman Spitzer on the HST in 1982
Goddard High-Resolution Spectrograph
The Goddard High-Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS) was one of the 4 original axial instruments aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The GHRS was designed to take spectral observations of astrophysical sources from 1150 to 3200 Angstroms. The instrument was removed from HST during Servicing Mission 2 in February, 1997. GHRS data can be found on the MAST Archive.
High Speed Photometer
The High Speed Photometer (HSP) was one of the four original axial instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The HSP was designed to make very rapid photometric observations of astrophysical sources in a variety of filters and passbands from the near ultraviolet to the visible. The HSP was removed from HST during the First Servicing Mission in December, 1993. Consequently, HSP data are only available through the MAST Archive.