How does the Institute accommodate all these observations?
The telescope operates 24 hours a day; however, scheduling is tricky. At certain times of the year, a celestial object may not be visible because it appears too close to the Sun. Furthermore, the telescope is not always in direct communication with ground stations.Consequently, technicians must plan each observation down to the second, telling the telescope what to do and when, using detailed computer-coded instructions transmitted to and stored in the telescope's computer "brain." Since its launch in 1990, the telescope has made 97% of its scheduled observations. The other 3% - usually missed because of minor equipment malfunctions - are rescheduled.
For certain astronomical events, such as the great comet crash on Jupiter, the telescope is operated real-time so that scientists and Institute staff can fine-tune the observations.
The telescope's 40-foot-long solar panels collect sunlight and convert it into 2,000 watts of electricity - enough to power two dozen household light bulbs.