Habitable Worlds Observatory Ultra-stable Telescope
Ultra-stable Technology
To view and study Earth-size planets in a star's habitable zone, a telescope must hold incredibly still with almost no movement or temperature change. These animations illustrate the concept of ultra-stable technology and how the Habitable Worlds Observatory will use it to see previously invisible planets.
Complete ultra-stable animation. The animation starts with a distant Earth-like exoplanet. The camera pulls back until the planet is hidden by the overall glare of the star. Quickly pulling farther back, the starlight reaches the Habitable Worlds Observatory. The animation transitions to a representative internal view. The starlight bounces from the main mirror to the secondary and into the coronagraph system. If the mirror sections are too unstable, the coronagraph can't remove all the light directly from the star. With ultra-stable technology, the mirror sections are much more still and two planets appear.
The first half of the animation, showing the exoplanet system and ending with the Habitable Worlds Observatory.
The second part of the animation, with the telescope parts showing how the final image of the system looks without, and then with, ultra-stable technology.
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab
-
Animators
- Walt Feimer (eMITS)
- Jenny McElligott (eMITS)
- Kim Dongjae (eMITS)
- Jonathan North (eMITS)
-
Technical support
- Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET Systems, Inc.)
-
Producers
- Scott Wiessinger (eMITS)
- Claire Andreoli (NASA/GSFC)
-
Scientist
- Aki Roberge (NASA/GSFC)
Release date
This page was originally published on Monday, April 7, 2025.
This page was last updated on Monday, April 7, 2025 at 1:23 PM EDT.