Six years ago [ http://violet.pha.j…], a cluster of three ultraviolet telescopes flew into orbit on the Astro-2 mission [ http://praxis.pha.j…] aboard the space shuttle Endeavour [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Seen here perched in Endeavour's payload bay about 350 kilometers above the Australian desert are the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT [ http://praxis.pha.j…]), the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT [ http://trifle.gsfc.…]), and the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE [ http://www.sal.wisc…]). HUT is in front of the other instruments with a silver, conical-shaped star tracker at the left of the telescope cluster [ http://praxis.pha.j…]. The ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum [ http://imagine.gsfc…emspectrum.html ] lies at wavelengths shorter than blue light and can not be seen by human eyes. Almost all ultraviolet light from the cosmos [ http://imagine.gsfc…multiwavelength.html ] is impossible to detect at the Earth's surface because it is absorbed by atmospheric ozone [ http://jwocky.gsfc.…]. But cruising high above the clouds and protective atmosphere, these instruments could explore [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] the universe [ http://praxis.pha.j…] at wavelengths beyond the blue [ http://trifle.gsfc.…Astro1_pictures.html ].
Explanation
Six years ago [ http://violet.pha.j…], a cluster of three ultraviolet telescopes flew into orbit on the Astro-2 mission [ http://praxis.pha.j…] aboard the space shuttle Endeavour [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Seen here perched in Endeavour's payload bay about 350 kilometers above the Australian desert are the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT [ http://praxis.pha.j…]), the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT [ http://trifle.gsfc.…]), and the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE [ http://www.sal.wisc…]). HUT is in front of the other instruments with a silver, conical-shaped star tracker at the left of the telescope cluster [ http://praxis.pha.j…]. The ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum [ http://imagine.gsfc…emspectrum.html ] lies at wavelengths shorter than blue light and can not be seen by human eyes. Almost all ultraviolet light from the cosmos [ http://imagine.gsfc…multiwavelength.html ] is impossible to detect at the Earth's surface because it is absorbed by atmospheric ozone [ http://jwocky.gsfc.…]. But cruising high above the clouds and protective atmosphere, these instruments could explore [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] the universe [ http://praxis.pha.j…] at wavelengths beyond the blue [ http://trifle.gsfc.…Astro1_pictures.html ].
