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Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph

Adapted from Wikipedia · Discoverer experience

Engineers work on the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, an instrument for the Hubble Space Telescope, in a clean room in 1996.

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) is a special tool used to study objects in space, installed on the Hubble Space Telescope. It was created by aerospace engineer Bruce Woodgate at the Goddard Space Flight Center. The STIS worked from 1997 until a problem in 2004, but it was fixed and started working again in 2009.

STIS under construction, 1996

The STIS was put on the Hubble Space Telescope in 1997 during a space mission called STS-82. It replaced two older instruments and was expected to work for five years. Even though it stopped working in 2004, it kept going for two extra years before astronauts fixed it during another mission, STS-125, in 2009.

One of the most exciting things the STIS helped discover was the first ever look at the atmosphere of a planet outside our solar system, called HD 209458b. Astronauts worked hard to repair the instrument, and it started exploring the universe once more.

Design

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) is a special tool that works as both a spectrograph and a camera. It mainly looks at ultraviolet light.

STIS uses three big detector arrays. The first one is a charge-coupled device that sees visible and near-infrared light, covering wavelengths from 200 nm to 1030 nm. The other two detectors are Multi-Anode Multichannel Arrays. One of these, made with Cs2Te, looks at near-UV light between 160 nm and 310 nm. The other, made with CsI, sees far-UV light between 115 nm and 170 nm.

Timeline

STS-125 launches, a Space Shuttle Atlantis mission that repaired STIS and returned it to service
  • February 14, 1997 – STIS was installed (STS-82).
  • In 2001, it started using new parts after some old parts stopped working.
  • On August 3, 2004, STIS stopped working because of a problem with its power.
  • In 2009, STIS was fixed up again (STS-125).
  • As of 2022, STIS is still working using its backup parts and all its cameras.

Selected discoveries and observations

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph helped scientists make many important discoveries between 1997 and 2017. It studied 20 galaxies to search for black holes, examined the material between galaxies, and looked at stars and star systems.

Some of its key observations included studying the atmosphere of a planet outside our solar system, spotting a dusty disk around the star Beta Pictoris, observing massive stars in the Tarantula Nebula, and watching the remains of the star explosion Supernova 1987A. It also examined flows of material from very active galaxies.

Images

The Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula, a beautiful region of star formation captured by the Hubble Space Telescope.
A stunning image of the planet Saturn showing its beautiful ultraviolet aurorae, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope from space.
This image shows the orbit of the planet Fomalhaut b around its star, as observed by the Hubble Space Telescope. The planet follows a long, stretched path and may one day pass through a ring of space debris.
A colorful aurora glowing around Jupiter's north pole, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. The bright blue lights are caused by high-energy electrons interacting with Jupiter's atmosphere.
The Hubble Space Telescope as seen from the Space Shuttle Atlantis during a mission to service and repair the telescope.

Related articles

STS-82
Hubble Space Telescope
Goddard Space Flight Center
Charge-coupled device

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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