TheSpace Telescope – European Coordinating Facility (ST-ECF) was an institution which provided a number of support and service functions primarily for European observers of the NASA/ESAHubble Space Telescope (HST). It was established in 1984 by theEuropean Space Agency (ESA) and theEuropean Southern Observatory (ESO), and was located at the ESO headquarters inGarching bei München, Germany. The ST-ECF ceased operations on 31 December 2010.[1]
The ST-ECF provided detailed technical information about the HST and its science instruments, supported European astronomers who were preparing HST observing proposals and coordinated the development of computer software tuned to the specific data analysis needs of HST users. In all these duties the ST-ECF staff maintained close contacts with theSpace Telescope Science Institute (STScI) inBaltimore, which is charged with the scientific operation of the HST observatory.
The ST-ECF was last headed byRobert (Bob) Fosbury. Deputy was Jeremy Walsh.
Founded before the era of the internet and widely available computer resources the ST-ECF was founded with user support for European astronomers as the main goal.When internet connections across the Atlantic and powerful computers became the mainstay, the focus of the organization shifted towards data product and dedicated instrument science support.
The ST-ECF was actively engaged in software development in many areas related to HST data calibration, analysis and visualisation for especially the Hubble instrumentsFaint Object Spectrograph,STIS, andAdvanced Camera for Surveys. For example:
Together with theEuropean Southern Observatory (ESO)the ST-ECF operated and maintained theESO/ST-ECF Science Archive Facility from where all the scientific data collected by theHubble Space Telescope could be accessed by the public.In collaboration with the HST archives at theSTScI and theCanadian Astronomy Data Centre (CADC) data products and access methods were continuously improved to assure the best possible science data for astronomers around the world. This includes work on the Virtual Observatory,On-The-Fly Calibration, andB Associations. Earlier work pioneered projects likeAstrovirtel andAstrophysical Virtual Observatory.
After the closure of ST-ECF the European HST Archive were moved to ESA'sEuropean Space Astronomy Centre in Spain, where most of ESA's Space Science Archives are located and operated from.
One of the groups at the ST-ECF was theHubble European Space Agency Information Centre (HEIC), which, since 1999, has been the leading Hubble outreach activities group in Europe (headed by the science communication specialistLars Lindberg Christensen and graphic designerMartin Kornmesser). HEIC's mission statement is to fulfill the Hubble Space Telescope outreach and education tasks for the European Space Agency.
HEIC became a very distinguished communication office of experts using the newest software and techniques. After the closure of ST-ECF the Outreach component continued on an ESO contract for ESA, as part of ESO's Education and Public Outreach department.
The ESA/Hubble office has produced large amounts of astronomical material – press releases, images, brochures, web pages, books etc. – suitable both for educational purposes and wider public consumption. HEIC provided a well-assorted archive that is publicly available on its web page.
The work is centred on the production of news and photo releases that highlight interesting Hubble science results and images. These are often European in origin, and so not only increase the awareness ofEuropean Space Agency’s Hubble share (15%), but the contribution of European scientists to the observatory. Furthermore the group produces video releases, innovative educational material, CD-ROMs, brochures, posters, as well as DVDs and museum information kiosks, and much more.
All publicised material can be found onspacetelescope.org. The group is home to theFITS Liberator project and the "Hubble – 15 Years of Discovery" project that also led to the bookHubble - 15 Years of Discovery.
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