GHRS Instrument Handbook
This Handbook is divided into four parts:
- Part I is a summary in which this Handbook is described and suggestions are made on how to use this document and how it is related to other HST-related documents. Part I also describes how HST proposals are processed for review by the Telescope Allocation Committee (TAC) and how successful proposals get turned into commands that the spacecraft can execute.
- Part II elaborates on the writing of proposals to use the GHRS, both for Phase I and Phase II. The Phase I proposal is what the TAC sees, and it describes the observations to be made in broad terms. The most important technical decisions to be made regard the target acquisition strategy to adopt and the amount of exposure time to request. The Phase II proposal encompasses all the details that the planning and scheduling systems need to turn your program into commands for the spacecraft.
- Part III is a reference section, and it includes the details that a Handbook should, without cluttering the introductory explanations.
- Part IV is a short glossary of GHRS terms and abbreviations and an index.
Data reduction and analysis are not covered in this Instrument Handbook because they are treated in detail in the HST Data Handbook. External references have been included where appropriate in order not to duplicate what is available elsewhere, but we have tried to include almost everything you need to know about the GHRS when writing a proposal. If you find that you need information that is not in here, please consult with us.
In some cases we present information here in a redundant way because a discussion of acquisitions, for example, arises in several contexts. We have tried to make each discussion self-contained or at least have cross-references, but you may wish to consult Chapters 2, 3, and 4 at times.
Document Conventions
This document follows the usual STScI convention in which terms, words, and phrases which are to be entered by the user in a literal way on a form are shown in a typewriter font (e.g., BRIGHT=RETURN,FP-SPLIT). Names of software packages or commands (e.g., stsdas, synphot) are given in a bold font.
Wavelength units in this Handbook are in Ångstroms (Å), in keeping with astronomical tradition.