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Session 16 - Astrometry.
Display session, Wednesday, January 07
Exhibit Hall,
The Fine Guidance Sensors (FGS), built by Hughes Danbury Optical Systems, occupy three radial bays in the Hubble Space Telescope, and are used for both guiding HST and astrometry science observations. In February of 1997, one of the FGS units was replaced with an upgraded backup unit, FGS1R. Early assessments of this instrument indicate that it will significantly out perform HST's current astrometer (FGS#3) in studies of multiple star systems with small (less than 20mas) angular separations and magnitude differences as large as 2.5. We discuss how STScI is monitoring this new FGS to determine when it is sufficiently stable for commissioning as a scientific instrument; and the calibration program which will be implemented to support this use. We also report on the results of our simulations of this FGS which clearly demonstrate its unique promise as a scientific instrument for studying multi-star systems unresolvable by any other technique.
