The Phase I Proposal Roadmap is a high level step-by-step guide to writing a Phase I Proposal. Links to the appropriate section of the various documents (
Call for Proposals,
Primer, etc.) are given for each step.
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1.3.2
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Cycle 20 Announcement Web Page
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The Cycle 20 Announcement Web page contains links to information and documentation (including this
Primer) that will be of use to you in the preparation of an
HST proposal. It also contains any late-breaking updates on the Phase I process and answers to frequently asked questions.
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1.3.3
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Cycle 20 Call for Proposals
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The Call for Proposals discusses the 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 is accessible from the
Cycle 20 Announcement Web page.
The Instrument Handbooks are the primary source of information for the HST instruments. You should consult them for any information that goes beyond what is presented in this
Primer. Please use current versions when preparing your Phase I proposal. They are available for all instruments, including former instruments that may be of interest for archival research. The handbooks are distributed electronically and may be accessed from the
HST Documents Web page. This page also provides links to more detailed technical information such as that provided in Instrument Science Reports.
The Astronomers Proposal Tool (APT) was introduced in Cycle 12 as the interface for all Phase I and Phase II proposal submissions for
HST. The current version of APT, along with minor bug fixes and enhancements, is essentially the same system as was used last cycle. See the “What’s New” button in APT for details on the changes. The
APT Web page contains information on the installation and use of APT.
The Aladin Sky Atlas is available via the APT. This interface can be used to display HST apertures on images of the sky. This tool brings a variety of benefits to users including 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 page.
This Primer, together with the instrument handbooks, provides a means of estimating acquisition times, exposure times, and other observational parameters. Proposers should realize that such tables and illustrations are only approximations, and that reliable calculations are best done with the software tools STScI provides: the
Exposure Time Calculators and APT (
Section 1.3.5). Those software tools fully embody knowledge of the complex operations of the instruments that can be confusing to describe in a handbook. The ETCs, for example, provide warnings about target count rates that exceed saturation and safety limits. However, users should be aware that the ETC does not take into account the effects of CTI (Charge Transfer Inefficiency) when predicting S/N ratio.
STScI provides ETCs for each of the HST instruments. Please use these Web-based electronic tools to estimate exposure times needed to achieve the signal-to-noise ratio required for your project. They can be accessed from the individual instrument Web pages which, in turn, are accessible from the
HST Instruments Web page. Alternatively, they can be accessed from the
Phase I Proposal Roadmap.
The HST Data Archive forms a part of the Multimission Archive at STScI (MAST). The
HST Data Archive contains all the data taken by
HST. Completed observations from both GO and GTO programs are available to the community upon the expiration of their proprietary periods. Observations taken under the Treasury program (see
Section 3.2.5 of the Call for Proposals) and GO Pure Parallel program (see
Section 4.2.2 of the Call for Proposals) types 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 was maintained at the
Space Telescope - European Coordinating Facility (ST-ECF) in Garching. Following decisions made by both ESA and ESO, the ST-ECF has closed and ceased operations on 31 December 2010. Plans to migrate the European copy of the
HST Data Archive to the European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) in Spain are nearing completion. During the migration period the European
HST Archive will be operated within the
ESO Science Archive Facility. The
Canadian Astronomy Data Centre also maintains a copy of public
HST science data only, and is the preferred source for Canadian astronomers.
The Hubble Legacy Archive (HLA) is a project designed to enhance science from the Hubble Space Telescope by augmenting the
HST Data Archive and by 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). It offers access to high level
HST products including composite images and interactive tools for previewing data products.
Section 7.3 contains more detailed information about the HLA.
An
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 HST Data Handbook describes the data produced by the instruments. It contains a general part as well as instrument-specific data handbooks. The latest versions of all data handbooks are available on 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, and to documentation on its use. See
Section 7.1 for details.
The MultiDrizzle Handbook provides general information on dither patterns, drizzling, and various considerations that should be taken into account when designing dithered observations. More detailed information specific to each instrument should be obtained from the Instrument Handbook and Data Handbook relevant to a given instrument. MultiDrizzle will soon be replaced, first in the pipeline and later in user software, by a new program called AstroDrizzle, for “astrometric drizzle”. While this new software should make image combination simpler and less error prone, and allow for better handling of astrometry, it should not affect how users design their programs.
