NICMOS Phase I

When writing and submitting a NICMOS Observing Proposal, proposers should consult all relevant technical documentation about the capabilities and sensitivities of NICMOS. Two important documents to consult are the NICMOS Instrument Handbook, and the NICMOS Data Handbook. Proposers should also discuss the requirements of their observing programs with appropriate STScI experts. Contacts are provided via the STScI HelpDesk at help@stsci.edu.

For more specific information relating to Phase I proposing, follow the links to the documents listed below.

NICMOS Phase I Proposing Documentation

Advisories:
Important updates, discoveries and developments that could potentially affect NICMOS observations, calibration, or data analysis.

FAQs:
Frequently Asked Questions.

Performance Summaries:
Status reports reflecting the current understanding of instrument characteristics, performance and calibration.

NCS Subsystems
Description of the NCS instrument specifications and how the cryo-cooler will work with NICMOS.
NICMOS Group 01 Nov 2001 (html)

Absolute Photometry
Results for the two primary standards G191-B2B and P330E and the two additional standards GD153 and P177D indicate that the absolute photometry is accurate to 2% (1 sigma uncertainty) and is always better than 5%, for stars in the J-K range covered by the standards, i.e. from about -0.25 to +0.35.
NICMOS Group 01 Nov 2001 (html)

Plot of the Frequency of Parallel Exposures
Histogram showing the frequency of NICMOS parallel program exposures as of Dec. 28, 1998.
NICMOS Group 28 Dec 1998 (gif)

Plot of the Distribution of Parallel Exposures on the Sky
Distribution of NICMOS parallel exposures.
NICMOS Group 28 Dec 1998 (gif)

Plot of the Distribution of the Exposure Times
Plot of the number of exposures as a function of the integrated exposure time.
NICMOS Group 28 Dec 1998 (gif)

Summary of NICMOS Parallel Programs
This chart shows a summery of the NICMOS parallel programs which were completed.
NICMOS Group 28 Dec 1998 (html)

NICMOS Cycle 7 PAM Setting and Focus
Current PAM settings and actual focci for the three NICMOS cameras.
NICMOS Group 12 Nov 1998 (html)

Performance of the Coronagraph in Cycle 7
Past performance of the Coronagraph and recommendations for proposers
NICMOS Group 28 Oct 1998 (html)

Handbooks:
The NICMOS Instrument Handbook is the primary guide regarding the characteristics and use of the instrument. The HST Data Handbook is the primary guide for calibration, reduction and analysis of NICMOS data.

Instrument Science Reports:
ISRs are technical reports written by members of the NICMOS Group about various aspects of the instrument and data. They usually contain in-depth information about specific topics.

NICMOS ISR-013: NICMOS Proposal Instructions 2: Patterns and Associations
In this ISR the optional parameters in the NICMOS Proposal Instructions which implement the automatic execution of patterns of observations are described.
J. MacKenty 15 May 1996 (pdf)

NICMOS ISR-012: NICMOS Proposal Instructions 1: General Instructions
In this ISR the Proposal Instructions for the NICMOS Science Instrument are described. This report discusses the possible SI configurations, modes, and most of the optional parameters.
J. MacKenty 15 May 1996 (pdf)

Papers and Proceedings:
Selected NICMOS related published papers and workshop proceedings.

Tutorials:
Cookbook style instructions, prescribed procedures, and helpful tips.

Photometric Calibration CookBook
A brief summary of the steps needed to perform absolute photometric measurements in NIC1, NIC2, and NIC3 images. The steps described here are no longer valid for most of the current calibration values, which have wavelength dependent aperture corrections. However, polarimetry and grism calibrations should still be performed this way, as they have not been recalibrated in the method with aperture corrections.
NICMOS Group 01 Nov 2001 (html)

Examples:
Examples of how to use various NICMOS-related tools, calibration and analysis techniques.

Space Telescope Analysis Newsletters:
STANs contain useful information regarding calibration and data reduction.

NICMOS STScI Analysis Newsletter 22
New NICMOS Exposure Time Calculator
Synthetic DARKs for NIC1
Release of the Visual Target Tuner
NICMOS Group 31 May 2000 (html)

NICMOS STScI Analysis Newsletter 15
NICMOS standard stars
NICMOS End-of-Life monitoring
NICMOS Prime Science Observations Update
NICMOS at the January 1999 Texas AAS Meeting
NICMOS Group 01 Nov 1998 (html)

NICMOS STScI Analysis Newsletter 9
Proceedings of the 1997 HST Calibration Workshop
Making Associations From Individual NICMOS Observations
New HST field-of-view plotting task available in STSDAS
NICMOS Group 01 Mar 1998 (html)

NICMOS STScI Analysis Newsletter 6
HST Data Handbook Version 3.0 released
Status of the NICMOS pure parallel program
NICMOS imaging polarimetry
NICMOS Group 01 Nov 1997 (html)

NICMOS STScI Analysis Newsletter 4
Changes to flight software to diminish residualbias & resulting new calibration reference files
Changes to the Exposure Time Calculator
History of calibration pipeline
Status of the coronagraph and recommendations for Cycle 7-NICMOS
Release of STSDAS/TABLES 2.0
NICMOS Group 01 Aug 1997 (html)