Expectations for Astrometry With the Hubble Space Telescope

Abstract

The Hubble Space Telescope, a large optical instrument having an aperture of 2.4 meters and a length of 8.8 meters has been developed by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration in cooperation with the European Space Agency. The Space Shuttle will be used to place the telescope in orbit. The primary astrometric instrument will be one of the three Fine Guidance Sensors which have the capability of measuring the position of one object with respect to another to an accuracy of ±0.″002. To facilitate use of the Hubble Space Telescope, observers will be provided with the Astrometric Data Reduction Software package. The variety of astrometric problems and the several modes of operation are mentioned as well as the cooperative program with the European astrometric satellite project HIPPARCOS.