Wide Field Camera 3
About
About WFC3
The Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) is a fourth-generation UVIS/IR imager aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). WFC3 was installed in May 2009 during HST servicing mission 4, and replaces the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2).
WFC3 is designed to ensure that HST maintains its powerful imaging capabilities until the end of its mission, while at the same time advancing its survey and discovery capability through WFC3’s combination of broad wavelength coverage, wide field of view, and high sensitivity. A key feature of WFC3 is its panchromatic wavelength coverage. By combining two optical/ultraviolet CCDs with a near-infrared HgCdTe array, WFC3 is capable of direct, high-resolution imaging over the entire wavelength range from 200 to 1700 nm. Equipped with a comprehensive range of wide-, intermediate-, and narrow-band filters, WFC3 has broad applicability to a variety of new astrophysical investigations.
WFC3 is a facility instrument. It was developed, constructed, characterized, and calibrated by an Integrated Product Team (IPT) led by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), and composed of staff astronomers and engineers from GSFC, STScI, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and other industrial contractors.
Current Status
Operating nominally
NEW: Cycle 33 Instrument Handbook
HST Jupyter Notebooks & Tutorials
Data Quality Assessment Checklist (useful for Exception Reports)
Web Tools and Helpful Links
Instrument Comparison for Cycle 32
Program Information
WFC3 Instrument Resources
WFC3 Instrument Resources
Recently Published Documents
ISRs
Filter WFC3 ISRs
Filter Results
-
October 17, 2025J. Anderson & S. Baggett
-
ISR 2025-06: Updates to the WFC3/UVIS Saturation Map
August 20, 2025M. Revalski, I. Rivera, V. Bajaj, F. Dauphin -
ISR 2025-05: Improved UVIS Aperture Corrections derived from Focus Diverse PSF Maps
August 18, 2025K. Huynh, V. Bajaj, J. Mack, A. Calamida -
ISR 2025-04: WFC3/IR Geometric Distortion - Time Evolution of Linear Terms w.r.t. Gaia DR3
July 29, 2025A. O'Connor & V. Bajaj -
ISR 2025-03: WFC3/IR Starter Guide
July 15, 2025P. R. McCullough & J. D. Green
STANs
Recently Published STANs
Filter Results
-
WFC3 STAN Issue 50, October 2025
October 17, 2025 -
WFC3 STAN Issue 49, June 2025
June 05, 2025 -
WFC3 STAN Issue 48, January 2025
January 10, 2025 -
WFC3 STAN Issue 47, October 2024
October 07, 2024 -
WFC3 STAN Issue 46, June 2024
June 13, 2024
Gallery
Slideshow of WFC3 Images
Hubble Ultra Deep Field 2014
Learn more about this image at Hubblesite.org.
Saturn Opposition 2018
Learn more about this image at Hubblesite.org.
Southern Crab Nebula
Learn more about this image at Hubblesite.org.
MACS J0416.1-2403
Learn more about this image at Hubblesite.org.
Bubble Nebula
Learn more about this image at Hubblesite.org.
HST Prefooter
HST Help Desk
Please contact the HST Help Desk with any questions.