One of the projects of the Hubble's fourth servicing mission by the Columbia Space Shuttle crew, the camera upgrade will replace the faint object camera -- the last of Hubble's original instruments -- with an advanced camera for surveys (ACS).

Johns Hopkins University professor of astronomy Holland Ford told NewsFactor the camera upgrade will provide a larger field of view, heightened sensitivity and twice the resolution of the space telescope's current cameras.

"It makes surveying 10 times faster," said Ford. "We're increasing by a factor of 10 the probability of finding something unexpected."

Ford referred to the Hubble's current faint object camera as "first generation, 1970s technology."

Probing for Planets

Ford, who lead the team that built the ACS over five years, said the new camera will aid in researchers' understanding of planet formation.

The Hubble upgrade may lead to the first-ever direct images of planets in other solar systems, which are now detected through inference using gravitational "wobbles" or discs, researchers said.

"I don't think we will be so fortunate or lucky enough to get a direct image of a planet around a star," Ford said. "We will use the coronagraph to search for planets in the nearest stellar system, which is four light years away."

Ford said that there is "a small probability we'll find planets in that system -- it's just so difficult."

Formation Foundation

While it will be difficult to provide a direct image of a nearby solar system's planet, Ford said that the 870-pound ACS -- about the size of an enclosed telephone booth -- will allow researchers to look more closely at the celestial evidence of planets.

"It's certainly a step along the way of understanding how planets form," Ford said. "We don't see the planets directly. We see their gravitational influence. We will be looking carefully at the discs known to be around stars."

Ford said the ACS will allow Hubble viewers to figure the prevalence of planets more accurately and will allow a tenfold reduction in research time.

The Right Light

The ACS, which has improved observational area, resolution and sensitivity -- compared to another current Hubble camera, the wide field camera II -- contains a coronagraph that blocks out bright light. This feature lets astronomers see around light sources and search for warps and gaps in the gas and dust around stars, which are potential signs of planet formation.

Ford, who likened the situation to trying to see a firefly or flashlight in the middle of a searchlight, said the coronagraph's light suppression blocks both direct light and diffracted light, allowing astronomers to see objects 10 times fainter than the bright, quasar source.

Johns Hopkins researchers said that the ACS, by providing pictures in polarized light, also may allow geometric measurement of distances using "light echoes" –- in essence, measuring the universe. The camera is expected to provide a more detailed look at planetary weather as well.

"I'm very hopeful we'll see a lot of detail we didn't see previously, and we'll detect a lot of new discs and nearby stars," Ford said.