The Phase I Proposal Roadmap is a high level step-by-step guide to writing a Phase I Proposal. At each step, links are provided to relevant information.
The Cycle 21 Announcement Web page contains links to information needed for preparing a
HST proposal. It also contains late-breaking updates regarding the Phase I process and a FAQ (frequently asked questions).
The Call for Proposals discusses policies and procedures for submitting a Phase I proposal for
HST observing or Archival Research. It also provides a summary of the proposal process from proposal submission to execution of the observations. The
Call for Proposals document is available at the
Cycle 21 Announcement Web page.
Instrument handbooks, the primary source of information for HST instruments, provide additional information beyond what’s presented in this
Primer. Please use current versions of the handbooks when preparing the Phase I proposal. The latest handbook versions, for active and decommissioned instruments, are available at the
HST Documents Web page. Other potentially useful documents, such as instrument science reports, data handbooks, and calibration conference proceedings are also accessible from that Web site.
The Astronomers Proposal Tool (APT) is the software interface for all Phase I and Phase II proposal submissions for
HST. Please refer to the
APT Web page for information regarding the installation and use of APT.
The Aladin Sky Atlas, available through APT, can be used to display
HST apertures on images of the sky. This software interface provides access to a wide variety of images and catalogs; note that the GALEX catalog is available to assist in checking for potentially dangerous objects for the UV detectors. Training documentation and videos can be found on the
APT Training Materials Web page.
Information in this Primer, together with the instrument handbooks, provides the means for estimating acquisition times, exposure times, and other observational parameters. Values provided in document tables, or as illustrations, are only approximations; reliable calculations that take into account the complex telescope and instrument operation are best obtained using software tools provided by STScI, such as the
Exposure Time Calculators (ETCs) and APT (
Section 1.3.5). The ETCs, for example, provide warnings for target count rates that exceed saturation and safety limits. Note, however, that S/N predictions from the ETCs do not include the effects of degrading CTE (Charge Transfer Efficiency) for the CCD detectors.
The HST Data Archive, a part of the
Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) at STScI, contains all the data taken by
HST. Observations from General Observer (GO) and Guaranteed Time Observer (GTO) programs are available to the community upon the expiration of their proprietary periods. Observations taken by Treasury programs (see
Section 3.2.5 of the Call for Proposals) and GO Pure Parallel programs (see
Section 4.2.2 of the Call for Proposals) carry no proprietary period.
The MAST Web page provides an overview of the
HST Data Archive as well as the procedures for retrieving archival data.
Section 7.2 contains additional information about the
HST Data Archive. A copy of the Archive that was maintained at the
Space Telescope - European Coordinating Facility (ST-ECF) in Garching ceased operations on 31 December 2010. The
ESA Hubble Science Archive is now available at the European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) in Spain. The
Canadian Astronomy Data Centre also maintains a copy of public
HST science data only, and is the preferred source for Canadian astronomers.
The HST Duplication Checking Web tool is also available at MAST. More information on duplication checking can be found in
Section 5.2.2 of the Call for Proposals.
The Hubble Legacy Archive (HLA) is a project designed to enhance science from Hubble Space Telescope data by augmenting the
HST Data Archive and providing advanced browsing capabilities. It is a joint project of the Space Telescope Science Institute, the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre (CADC), and, until December 2010, the European Coordinating Facility (ST-ECF). The HLA offers high level
HST products including composite images, as well as interactive tools for previewing data products.
Section 7.3 contains more detailed information about the HLA.
Introduction to the HST Data Handbooks is a general overview of HST data formats and software tools. It complements the instrument data handbooks that contain more details about calibration and data analysis. The latest versions of the instrument data handbooks are available at the
Documents Web page.
The Space Telescope Science Data Analysis Software (STSDAS) Web page has links to the software used to calibrate and analyze
HST data, along with documentation on its use. See
Section 7.1 for details. The
DrizzlePac Handbook provides information about the DrizzlePac software package that has replaced MultiDrizzle in pipeline calibration and post-pipeline processing. Some information about dither patterns, drizzling, and various observing considerations are included in it, but for more detailed information, please refer to the
Phase II Proposal Instructions and
instrument handbooks.
