The NICMOS Parallel Program

The NICMOS Instrument Team of the Space Telescope Science Institute have implemented, as a service to the community, an observing program for NICMOS which obtains parallel exposures when other HST instruments are prime. The parallel programs have been actively gathering since May 1997, covering the sky in a relatively uniform manner.

The HST NICMOS Service Parallel Program was presented in a poster during the January 1998 AAS meeting. They highlights of the poster are available in PDF format.

A complete list of the NICMOS Parallel Program is available at the Hubble Data Archive's Parallel Program web page at the URL "http://archive.stsci.edu/pure_parallels.html" and the data may be retrieved from STScI Data Archive at URL "http://archive.stsci.edu/".

The initial program obtained observations in the F110W and F160W filters in Camera 1, F110W, F160W and F222M in Camera 2, and F160W and G141 in Camera 3. Following analysis of these initial observations and consultations with the community, starting November 1997 parallel observations are being obtained mainly in Camera 3 in F110W, F160W, G096, and G141 with images at two positions being obtained in each filter or grism. These changes reflect the improved focus state of Camera 3 and the desire for a larger field of view and spectral information. By late december 1997, the parallel program had accrued in excess of 6,700 individual exposures.