Astronomer proposes Hubble replacement

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 month

time-frame for deployment to earth orbit, Norman said: "The

groundbreaking science, the cutting edge technology generated in

the development of new instrumentation, the ability of Hubble

science to engage the interest of the public, and its impact on

the imagination of students, make it worthwhile to invest this

sum of public funds to complete the last chapter of Hubble's

remarkable legacy."

HOP will tackle three of the most central intellectual issues of

our age; the nature of dark energy, the nature

and distribution of dark matter, and the

prevalence 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 include

two instruments that were scheduled for installation on the

Hubble: 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 advanced

camera on board the Hubble now, and is 3-4 times more sensitive

at critical wavelengths. This will provide for mapping 20 times

faster than achievable by the Hubble at present.

The COS would make possible the identification of the invisible

portion of "ordinary matter," potentially residing in gigantic

gas clouds discovered by the

Chandra X-ray Telescope.

"The WFC3 has greatly enhanced power for discovery in the blue and

the red region of the spectrum and will significantly enhance

studies of galaxies and stars. Its infrared capability is

essential to studies of dark energy," Norman added.

"The decision is obvious. We must continue with the

Hubble adventure to explore these great questions

further, to understand more fully our remarkable

Universe and our place in it. We must do this with

intense determination and energy and thus continue to

inspire new generations with the wonder and thrill of

exploration and discovery," concluded Norman.

Colin Norman was educated at the University of Melbourne and

Oxford University. He has been a professor of physics and

astronomy at Johns Hopkins University and astronomer at the

Space Telescope Science Institute since 1984.