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The Hubble Space Telescope (HST): one
user’s view
Chris Sneden
Speaking for my friends & colleagues:
John Cowan (Oklahoma), Jim Truran (Chicago), Tim Beers (Michigan State), Francesca Primas (ESO)
Pictures of HST
Very connected with the fate of the shuttle!
HST: a thumbnail history?
HST has been a spectacular success!
Recent (alas!) HST history
Late last week
Yester-day
Back to my comfort zone: using HST while it still lives
What can stellar astronomers learn from cool HST images?
Halo stars are at the outposts of our Milky Way and other galaxies
You are here
(sort of)!
My goal: to use the chemical compositions of stars to help explain the creation of all the
elements in the Periodic Table
Rb Sr Y Zr Nb Mo Tc Ru Rh Pd Ag Cd In Sn Sb Te I
ScCaK
Xe
Ti V Cr Mn Fe Co Ni Cu Zn Ga Ge As Se Br Kr
H
BeLi
MgNa
Hf Ta W Re Os Ir Pt Au Hg Tl Pb Bi Po At Rn
RaFr
BaCs
Rf Db Sg Bh Hs Mt Uun Uuu Uub
CB O F Ne
ArAl Si P S Cl
N
He
La Ce Pr Nd Pm Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu
Ac Th Pa U Np Pu Am Cm Bk Cf Es Fm Md No Lr
Atomic Numbers1
3
11
19
37
55
87
57
89
2
10
18
36
54
86
71
103
Remember: Periodic Table elements are created in stellar nucleosynthesis
Nuclear fusion reactions in the hot & dense interiors of stars synthesis nearly all elements
AND they release energy that finally becomes the light we see from stars
To deduce the chemical compositions of stars, we must
analyze their spectra
The basic concept
Fortunately, atoms in stellar atmospheres absorb light at selected colors (wavelengths), giving away their existence
McDonald’s HET and its High Resolution
Spectrograph (HRS) are great tools to study the abundances of SOME
elements in stars
Some elements cannot be observed from the ground! They only have
transitions in the UV
Rb Sr Y Zr Nb Mo Tc Ru Rh Pd Ag Cd In Sn Sb Te I
ScCaK
Xe
Ti V Cr Mn Fe Co Ni Cu Zn Ga Ge As Se Br Kr
H
BeLi
MgNa
Hf Ta W Re Os Ir Pt Au Hg Tl Pb Bi Po At Rn
RaFr
BaCs
Rf Db Sg Bh Hs Mt Uun Uuu Uub
CB O F Ne
ArAl Si P S Cl
N
He
La Ce Pr Nd Pm Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu
Ac Th Pa U Np Pu Am Cm Bk Cf Es Fm Md No Lr
Atomic Numbers1
3
11
19
37
55
87
57
89
2
10
18
36
54
86
71
103
Overall HST schematic I
Overall HST schematic II
Overall HST schematic III
HST STIS: just like any simple spectrograph!
Life isn’t fair: a typical HST beautiful image
My beautiful HST STIS image?
But there really is a treasure here …
Blowup this and study
And you cannot do this without HST