Observers wishing to visit STScI for the purpose of working on WFPC2 data:
- Should know the basics of WFPC2 properties and optical astronomy, as well as IRAF and UNIX.
- Should have read relevant documents ahead of time (IRAF Manual, UNIX Manual, STSDAS Manual, WFPC2 Instrument Handbook, HST Data Handbook, WFPC2 Data Analysis Tutorial), some of which are available on the WFPC2 Documents page.
- Should have looked at the data prior to coming to STScI, and have specific goals for the data reduction and analysis. [Note: Past experience has shown that without this background preparation, very little 'quality' work is possible; most of the time, is spent going over the basics of WFPC2 data and the IRAF/STSDAS software.]
To make things more efficient please include in your email to us (help@stsci.edu) the following information when requesting a visit:
- Your full name, affiliation, and address of home institution.
- Your desired arrival/departure dates/times.
- Your experience level with UNIX, IRAF, STSDAS, and HST data formats.
- Your GO proposal ID number and, if possible, the relevant dataset names.
- Whether or not you consent to your data being retrieved prior to your arrival (prior retrieval is highly encouraged to save time).
- The expected goals for your visit.
Full support may not be possible during major meetings (AAS, major in-house meetings). Full support is likely to be available immediately after such meetings if arranged sufficiently in advance. There may be some difficulty in arranging full support during holidays or travel periods such as the winter holidays and throughout the summer months, though every effort will be made to accommodate any request, given sufficient notice. Observers are always encouraged to notify us as much in advance as possible.
We look forward to helping you reach your WFPC2 data science goals.
-The WFPC2 Group