Wide Field and Planetary Camera

The Wide Field/Planetary Camera (WFPC, pronounced as "wiffpick") was a camera installed on the Hubble Space Telescope launched in April 1990 and operated until December 1993. It was one of the instruments on Hubble at launch, but its functionality was severely impaired by the defects of the main mirror optics which afflicted the telescope. However, it produced uniquely valuable high resolution images of relatively bright astronomical objects, allowing for a number of discoveries to be made by HST even in its aberrated condition.

WFPC was proposed by James A. Westphal, a professor of planetary science at Caltech, and was designed, constructed, and managed by JPL. At the time it was proposed, 1976, CCDs had barely been used for astronomical imaging, though the first KH-11 KENNEN reconnaissance satellite equipped with CCDs for imaging was launched in December 1976. The high sensitivity offered such promise that many astronomers strongly argued that CCDs should be considered for Hubble Space Telescope instrumentation.

This first WFPC consisted of two separate cameras, each comprising four 800×800 pixel Texas Instruments CCDs arranged to cover a contiguous field of view. The Wide Field camera had a 0.1 arcsecond per pixel resolution and was intended for the panoramic observations of faint sources at the cost of angular resolution. The Planetary Camera had a 0.043 arcsecond per pixel resolution and was intended for high-resolution observations. Selection between the two cameras was done with a four-facetted pyramid that rotated by 45 degrees.

As part of the corrective service mission (STS-61 in December 1993) the WFPC was swapped out for a replacement version. The Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 improved on its predecessor and incorporated corrective optics needed to overcome the main mirror defect. To avoid potential confusion, the WFPC is now most commonly referred to as WFPC1.

On its return to Earth, the WFPC was disassembled and parts of it were used in Wide Field Camera 3, which was installed in Hubble on May 14, 2009, as part of Servicing Mission 4, replacing WFPC2.

Specifications

The instrument had two different cameras within, the Wide Field and the Planetary Camera. The Wide Field camera had a wider field of view compared to the Planetary Camera. Both cameras have a light wavelength detection range of 115 to 1000 nm.

Wide Field Camera

This instrument has a field of view of 2.6 x 2.6 arcminutes and an f-stop of f/12.9. It's equipped with 49 filters:

Name	nm	min	max	peak
F194W	162.97	281.37	208.81
F230W	197.46	291.22	235.82
F284W	224.83	353.33	285.24
F336W	290.76	381.94	336.96
F368M	345.69	404.00	371.66
F375N	365.18	388.30	376.27
F157W	124.26	1024.19	294.68
F413M	387.07	440.16	412.76
F437N	433.12	439.58	436.67
F439W	392.84	479.18	435.36
F469N	464.69	472.53	468.71
F487N	482.35	491.12	486.99
F492M	457.64	527.34	490.63
F502N	497.38	506.10	501.85
G450	318.83	673.03	488.17
F517N	506.25	528.86	516.99
F122M	115.02	1058.32	441.22
F547M	504.75	589.22	545.23
G200	159.99	1049.96	482.07
F555W	444.24	712.01	540.00
F569W	482.20	705.66	558.06
F588N	581.08	594.40	587.98
F606W	452.50	737.56	580.36
F622W	532.31	751.58	611.44
F631N	625.44	635.04	630.62
F648M	609.05	690.78	646.34
F656N	652.73	658.47	655.83
F658N	654.54	660.20	657.71
F664N	647.01	680.26	664.01
F673N	662.51	680.21	672.26
F675W	592.30	772.69	666.27
F8ND	199.34	1068.46	567.85
POL0	199.34	1068.46	567.85
POL120	199.34	1068.46	567.85
POL60	199.34	1068.46	567.85
F128LP	200.30	1068.57	570.52
F702W	583.31	895.14	683.13
F718M	662.88	786.74	714.82
G800	555.11	1068.06	721.27
F791W	681.68	937.55	784.38
F814W	683.90	1013.82	803.42
F875M	821.62	944.75	875.49
F889N	881.31	896.43	888.92
F725LP	698.61	1078.80	838.40
F785LP	755.99	1083.60	887.16
F850LP	822.09	1084.32	928.94
F1083N	1071.00	1092.88	1082.98
F1042M	961.00	1094.67	1026.28

Planetary Camera

This instrument has a field of view of 66 x 66 arcseconds and an f-stop of f/30, corresponding to a smallest pixel scale of 0.043 arcsecond (unit of degree). It's equipped with 49 filters:

Name	nm	min	max	peak
G200M2	114.6	197.5	155.5
F194W	162.8	284.6	207.8
F230W	194.8	295.0	236.2
F284W	228.2	363.7	289.2
F336W	291.3	382.2	339.0
F368M	345.8	404.0	371.8
F375N	365.2	388.3	376.3
F413M	387.1	440.3	413.0
F437N	433.1	439.6	436.7
F439W	393.1	479.3	436.8
F469N	464.7	472.5	468.7
F487N	482.4	491.1	487.0
F492M	457.8	527.4	491.0
F502N	497.4	506.1	501.9
G450	321.6	673.2	494.1
F517N	506.3	528.9	517.0
F157W	125.1	1047.7	377.8
F547M	504.8	589.2	545.2
F555W	444.5	713.4	541.1
F569W	482.3	706.0	558.3
F588N	581.1	594.4	588.0
G200	181.7	1054.8	514.4
F606W	452.9	737.9	581.6
F622W	532.3	752.4	611.9
F122M	117.6	1069.1	504.8
F631N	625.5	635.0	630.6
F648M	609.1	690.9	646.5
F656N	652.7	658.5	655.8
F658N	654.5	660.2	657.7
F664N	647.0	680.3	664.0
F673N	662.5	680.2	672.3
F675W	592.4	773.0	666.9
F702W	583.3	897.0	684.2
F718M	662.9	786.9	715.0
F8ND	213.2	1078.9	589.4
POL0	213.2	1078.9	589.4
POL120	213.2	1078.9	589.4
POL60	213.2	1078.9	589.4
F128LP	214.5	1079.2	591.8
G800	555.2	1077.0	725.9
F791W	681.7	938.8	785.0
F814W	684.0	1015.6	805.2
F875M	821.8	945.0	876.0
F889N	881.3	896.4	888.9
F725LP	698.7	1088.5	842.3
F785LP	756.1	1090.9	890.9
F850LP	822.4	1091.0	931.9
F1083N	1071.0	1092.9	1083.0
F1042M	962.3	1095.7	1028.9

First light image

Replacement

Although there was nothing known to be wrong with this instrument, the spherical aberration in HST's mirror severely limited the performance. WFPC was replaced by the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 which included its own internal corrective optics. WFPC2 was replaced by the Wide Field Camera 3 in 2009. After return to Earth, WFPC was disassembled and its parts cannibalized to make WFC3.