HST Projects at CASS, UCSD

The multi-channel Digicon photon detectors used in the first generation HST spectrographs were invented and developed at the Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences (CASS) at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD). Four of these detectors are used on two instruments, the UCSD Faint Object Spectrometer (FOS), and the Goddard High Resolution Spectrometer (GHRS), on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST/STScI).

UCSD's Group

The FOS GTO data analysis project ( M. Burbidge, PI)was headquartered at UCSD and UCSD investigators continue to be active in HST research programs. Among the important results from the FOS team was conclusive evidence for the presence of a massive black hole in the nucleus of the nearby elliptical galaxy, M87.

FOS PROVES THE EXISTENCE OF MASSIVE BLACK HOLE

M87 Core & Accretion Disk Blue- and Red- shifted spectra

Shown above is a sample of the spectrum obtained by the UCSD Faint Object Spectrograph onboard the Hubble Space Telescope that provided proof of the existence of black holes. Also available is the full press release photo (180k GIF or 80k JPEG).