Wide Field Camera 3
Hubble ultraviolet-visible-infrared camera
Wide Field Camera 3 is Hubble's panchromatic imaging instrument, spanning near-ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared wavelengths through two independently optimized channels. Its UVIS channel uses two large CCDs, while the infrared channel uses a mercury-cadmium-telluride array. Filters and grisms support direct imaging and slitless spectroscopy over roughly 200 to 1700 nanometers. Astronauts installed WFC3 during Servicing Mission 4 in the bay vacated by WFPC2, substantially increasing Hubble's sensitivity, field coverage, and wavelength reach.
Parent systems
The larger spacecraft or system this hardware belongs to.
Instrument dossier
Identity and integration
- Official designation
- Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3)
- Installed
- STS-125, May 2009
- Parent observatory
- Hubble Space Telescope
Science capability
- Channel architecture
- Separate UVIS and infrared optical channels
- Approximate wavelength coverage
- About 200 to 1700 nanometers across both channels
- UVIS field of view
- Approximately 162 x 162 arcseconds
- Infrared field of view
- Approximately 136 x 123 arcseconds
Detector and optical systems
- UVIS detector
- Two 4096 x 2051 pixel CCDs
- Infrared detector
- 1024 x 1024 pixel mercury-cadmium-telluride array
- Camera dimensions
- 1.0 x 1.3 x 0.5 meters
Mechanical and electrical
- Instrument mass
- 890 pounds
- Radiator dimensions
- 2.6 x 7 feet (0.8 x 2.2 meters)
Installation and operations
- Installation operation
- Installed in Hubble's radial science-instrument bay during STS-125 in place of WFPC2
Additional specifications
- Instrument class
- Ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared imaging camera
- Infrared thermal control
- Cold enclosure operated near -35 degrees Celsius and a thermoelectric cooler chilled the detector without stored cryogen
- Observing modes
- Direct imaging plus slitless spectroscopy with ultraviolet-visible and infrared grisms
- Replaced instrument
- Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2
- Crew relationship
- Installed by the STS-125 servicing crew
Supported mission records
Missions that carried, used, tested, serviced, or depended on this hardware.
Photo Archive
Documented views of this individual vehicle, with source and credit retained alongside each image.