SIRTF
SIRTF or the Space Infra Red Telescope Facility is the third and last of NASA's great space observatories. The other two are the Hubble Space Telescope (HST, optical) and Chandra (x-ray). In keeping with NASA tradition, the telescope will be renamed after successful demonstration of operation, in mid-December 2003. Unlike most telescopes which are named after famous deceased astronomers by a board of scientists, the name for SIRTF was obtained from a contest open only to children (to the delight of science educators).
Previous infrared observations had been made by both space-based and ground-based observatories. Ground-based observatories have the draw back that at infrared wavelengths or frequencies, both the Earth's atmosphere and the telescope it self will radiate (glow) strongly. This necessitates lengthy calibrations of all images and will decrease the ability to detect faint objects. Previous space-based satellites (such as IRAS, the Infrared Astronomical Satellite) were operational during the 1980's and great advances in astronomical technology have been made since then. First light images from SIRTF appear promising, and the astronomical community eagerly awaits the official naming of the telescope (signifying success), as well as images and data.
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