Planned observations of P/Halley with the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope on Space Shuttle

The Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) is an f/2 90-cm prime-focus telescope with an f/2 Rowland-circle spectrograph designed for far-ultraviolet spectrophotometry of faint astronomical sources. The wavelength range is 850-1850 A with an ultimate spectral resolution of 2 A, but for observations of solar-system objects the spectrograph is responsive, in second order, to wavelengths as short as 500 A. The HUT is one of three instruments to be carried on Space Shuttle in 1986 as part of an ultraviolet astronomy payload, and it is intended to use these instruments for observations of Halley during the encounters in March, 1986. In addition to its unique capability to observe at wavelengths shorter than 1150 A, the spectral region that includes the resonance transitions of the noble gases, the HUT is significantly more sensitive for observations of extended sources than either IUE or Space Telescope.