S T A N / W F P C 2 - Number 30, March 1998

CONTENTS:

• WFPC2 NEWS:
• Proceedings of the 1997 HST Calibration Workshop now available
• New HST field-of-view plotting task available in STSDAS
• Dither Package Released
• DATA ANALYST POSITION AVAILABLE AT STScI
• RECENT PREPRINTS
• APPENDIX: WFPC2 CONTACTS

Proceedings of the 1997 HST Calibration Workshop now available:

by Stefano Casertano

New HST field-of-view plotting task available in STSDAS:

by J.-C. Hsu and S. Baggett

STFOV, a new STSDAS task to overplot the science instrument apertures of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) on a gray scale image, is now available. STFOV is basically a "wrapper" script based upon the existing tasks disconlab and siaper, but with a more user-friendly interface. The input image can be any image with WCS (= World Coordinate System) parameters in the header or a Digital Sky Survey (DSS) image; the input aperture can be any one of the HST apertures (i.e., not limited to WFPC2 apertures). The orient parameter (spacecraft roll measured in degrees east from north) is the same as that specified in the Phase II proposal template.

Other features include:

(1) Appending a new FOV, with user-specified color, to an existing chart, thus allowing convenient multiple overlays on the same gray scale image.

(2) Providing rudimentary estimates for magnitudes of stars in the field, which is useful when planning exposures, e.g., to avoid bright stars near WFPC2 which may result in scattered light.

STFOV is now available in the newest STSDAS release (2.0.1), under the graphics.stplot package; please refer to the STSDAS help for more details and examples.

Dither Package Released

by A. Fruchter

A new STSDAS pacakge, called "dither" has been released as part of STSDAS 2.0.1. Dither contains the drizzle task, which was used for imaging the Hubble Deep Field, as well as a number of other tasks useful for aligning and combining dithered and rotated images.

A description of the dither package, as well as an explanation of many of the concepts involved in imaging dithered data can be found in an article by Fruchter, Hook, Busko and Mutchler in the 1997 HST Calibration Workshop Proceedings.

Data Analyst Position Available at STScI:

The Space Telescope Science Institute currently has openings for Data Analysts. Data Analysts in the Science Support Division help General Observers and Archive Researchers analyze HST data, work with Instrument Scientists in calibrating the HST instruments, and work with STScI staff on grant-supported research projects. These research projects span a range of size scales from comets and planets to the large scale structure of the universe and a range of wavelengths from radio to X-ray astronomy.

Applicants should possess a B.S. degree (M.S. degree a plus) in astronomy or physics, or equivalent; experience with astronomical research; familiarity with scientific computing; expertise in data analysis; knowledge of IRAF, IDL or other software packages for astronomical data analysis; and programming ability. Additional mathematical, statistical, and computer skills are desirable. Candidates should have the ability to work with a minimum of direction, enjoy research, and possess skills to develop excellent working relationships. Candidates should send a cover letter with current curriculum vitae and the names of three references to:

Human Resources Manager
Space Telescope Science Institute
3700 San Martin Dr.
Baltimore, MD 21218

Women and minorities are strongly urged to apply. AAE/EOE.

RECENT PREPRINTS:

We draw your attention to these papers, based on WF/PC and WFPC2 data, that will appear in the next few months. This list includes all preprints received by the STScI Library not yet published in the journals. Please remember to include our Library in your preprint distribution list.

FALCKE, H.; WILSON, A.S.; SIMPSON, C. "HST and VLA
Observations of the Seyfert 2 Galaxies: the Relationship
Between Radio Ejecta and the Narrow Line Region" ApJ 6-1-98

GOLIMOWSKI, D.A.; BURROWS, C.J.; KULKARNI, S.R.;
OPPENHEIMER, B.R.; BRUKARDT, R.A. "WFPC2 Observations of
Brown Dwarf Gliese 229B: Optical Colors and Orbital Motion"
AJ 6-98

KRIST, J.E.; STAPELFELDT, K.R.; BURROWS, C.J.; BALLESTER,
G.E.; CLARKE, J.T.; CRISP, D.; EVANS, R.W.; GALLAGHER, J.S.
III; GRIFFITHS, R.E.; HESTER, J.J.; HOESSEL, J.H.;
HOLTZMAN, J.A.; MOULD, J.R.; SCOWEN, P.A.; TRAUGER, J.T.;
WATSON, A.M.; WESTPHAL, J.A. "Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2
Imaging of FS Tauri and Haro 6-5B" ApJ accepted

FERRARO, F.R.; PALTRINIIERI, B.; FUSI PECCI, F.; ROOD,
R.T.; DORMAN, B. "Multimodal Distributions Along the
Horizontal Branch" ApJ accepted

FOSBURY, R.A.E.; MORGANTI, R.; WILSON, W.; EKERS, R.D.; DI
SEREGO ALIGHIERI, S.; TADHUNTER, C.N. "Radio Jet
Interactions in the Radio Galaxy PKS 2152-699" MNRAS

KOORNNEEF, J.; POTTASCH, S.R.  "HST Photometry of the Stars
Near the Center of PN NGC 650" A&A accepted

NIEMELA, V.S.; SHARA, M.S.; WALLACE, D.J.; ZUREK, D.R.;
MOFFAT, A.F.J. "Hubble Space Telescope Detection of
Optical Companions of WR 86, WR 146 and WR 147: Wind
Collision Model Confirmed" AJ 5-98

APPENDIX: WFPC2 Contacts:

Any questions about the scheduling of your observations should be addressed to your Program Coordinator. Post-Observation questions can be addressed to your Contact Scientist. If you do not know who these persons are, you can find the information on the WWW at www.stsci.edu/public/propinfo.html.

Analysis, STSDAS or any other questions can also be addressed to help@stsci.edu.

To subscribe or unsubscribe send a message to listserv@stsci.edu with the Subject: line blank and the following in the body:

            [un]subscribe wfpc_news YOUR NAME

The Space Telescope Science Institute is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.