First light (astronomy)

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Template:Short description Script error: No such module "about". Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Template:CSS image crop In astronomy, first light is the first use of a telescope (or, in general, a new instrument) to take an astronomical image after it has been constructed. This is often not the first viewing using the telescope; optical tests will probably have been performed to adjust the components.

Characteristics

File:Hubble First Light, First Released Image (STScI-1990-04a).png
Hubble Space Telescope's first light with its impaired WFPC, 1990

The first light image is normally of little scientific interest and is of poor quality, since the various telescope elements are yet to be adjusted for optimum efficiency. Despite this, a first light is always a moment of great excitement, both for the people who design and build the telescope and for the astronomical community, who may have anticipated the moment for many years while the telescope was under construction. A well-known and spectacular astronomical object is usually chosen as a subject.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

References

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