View source for Faint Object Camera

[[File:Faint Object Camera (Dornier Museum).jpg|thumb|Faint Object Camera (Dornier Museum)]]
<!--[[Image:ACS FOC swap.jpg|thumb|Astronauts remove the FOC to make room for the [[Advanced Camera for Surveys|ACS]]]]-->
[[File:Surface Map of Pluto.jpg|thumb|Surface map of Pluto by HST/FOC]]
{{short description|Installed on HST from 1990 to 2002}}
The '''Faint Object Camera''' ('''FOC''') was a [[camera]] installed on the [[Hubble Space Telescope]] from launch in 1990 until 2002. It was replaced by the [[Advanced Camera for Surveys]]. In December 1993, Hubble's vision was corrected on STS-61 by installing COSTAR, which corrected the problem with Hubble's mirror before it reached an instrument like FOC. Later instruments had this correction built in, which is why it was possible to later remove COSTAR itself and replace it with a new science instrument.

The camera was built by [[Dornier GmbH]] and was funded by the [[European Space Agency]].  The unit actually consists of two complete and independent camera systems designed to provide extremely high resolution, exceeding 0.05 [[arcsecond]]s.  It is designed to view very faint UV and optical light from 115 to 650 nanometers in wavelength.<ref name="CP-2244">{{cite tech report |title=The Space Telescope Observatory |number=CP-2244 |institution=NASA |url=http://hdl.handle.net/2060/19820025420 |date=1982 |editor-first=Donald N. B.|editor-last=Hall }}, page 40. A 40 MB PDF file.</ref> FOC has been compared to a "telephoto" lens, providing a high resolution in a small field of view.<ref name=FOC>[http://hubblesite.org/the_telescope/nuts_.and._bolts/instruments/foc/ FOC] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100726154058/http://hubblesite.org/the_telescope/nuts_.and._bolts/instruments/foc/ |date=2010-07-26 }}.</ref> FOC could distinguish between two points 0.05 [[arc-second]]s apart.<ref name=FOC/>

Rather than [[charge-coupled device|CCD]]s the FOC used [[photon]]-counting [[digicon]]s as its detector.<ref name="CP-2244"/>

The camera was designed to operate at low, medium, or high resolution.  The angular resolution and field of view at each resolution were as follows:<ref name=ESA-FOC>
{{cite web
  | title = FOC – Faint Object Camera
  | work = Hubble
  | publisher = [[European Space Agency]]
  | date = 2006-12-12
  | url = http://hubble.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=34007&fbodylongid=1464
  | access-date = 2007-02-07 }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
!
! Angular resolution
! Field of view
|-
! Low resolution [[f-number|(''f''/48)]]
| 0.043 arcseconds
| 22 arcseconds
|-
! Medium resolution (''f''/96)
| 0.022 arcseconds
| 11 arcseconds
|-
! High resolution (''f''/288)
| 0.0072 arcseconds
| 3.6 arcseconds
|}

<!--
==Mira==
[[Image:RedGiantMiraAndHotCompanion.jpg|thumb|left|400px|Hubble + FOC [[red giant]] star [[Mira]] A (right), officially called Omicron Ceti in the constellation Cetus, and its companion  on the left. Taken on December 11, 1995]]
{{clear}} -->

==Imaging examples==
{|
|[[Image:Pluto and Charon from Hubble.jpg|thumbnail|[[Pluto]] and its moon [[Charon (moon)|Charon]] revealed by the Hubble Faint Object Camera (1994)]]
|[[File:Einstein cross.jpg|thumb|The "[[Einstein cross]]", discovered in 1985 by J. Huchra, is a large gravitational lens. 1990 Hubble image]]
|[[File:Nova cygni 1992.jpg|thumb|[[Nova Cygni 1992]] with FOC/COSTAR<ref>[http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/opo9406a/ Nova Cygni 1992]</ref>]]
|}
{{-}}

==Space work==
{|
|[[File:Liftoff STS-31.jpg|thumb|STS-31 launches to carry Hubble into orbit, 1990]]
|[[Image:ACS FOC swap.jpg|thumb|Astronauts remove the FOC to make room for the [[Advanced Camera for Surveys|ACS]] instrument]]
|[[File:Columbia making its final landing after STS-109 mission.jpg|thumb|''Columbia'' lands, returning FOC to Earth, 2002]]
|}

==References==
<references />

==External links==
{{commons category|Faint Object Camera}}
* [http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1990/06/image/a/ First FOC image]
* [http://m.hubblesite.org/gallery/pr1994006a Images of Nova Cygni 1992 With Hubble's Old and New Optics] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150306231107/http://m.hubblesite.org/gallery/pr1994006a |date=2015-03-06 }}
* [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/imgcat/html/object_page/hst_pr96_09a.html Pluto by FOC]

{{Hubble Space Telescope}}
{{Fairchild Aircraft}}
{{European human spaceflight}}

[[Category:Hubble Space Telescope instruments]]
[[Category:Space imagers]]
[[Category:Space hardware returned to Earth intact]]
[[Category:European Space Agency]]


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