About This Article
Table of Contents
1. Python notebooks for ACS/WFC grism data reduction with slitlessutils v2.0
R. J. Avila
The Space Telescope Science Institute released a major update to slitlessutils in March 2026, a Python package designed for simulation and extraction of wide-field slitless spectra in the Hubble Space Telescope imaging cameras. Concurrent to the v2.0 release, the ACS team has released two Python notebook tutorials to guide users through all the available modes for the Wide Field Channel.
The notebooks contain fully worked examples that can be customized for the most common grism G800L observations. The tutorials guide users in how to set up the proper Python environment, download data, prepare images for analysis, detect sources, and finally, perform an extraction. One of the notebooks specifically addresses how to use slitlessutils with subarray data. The notebooks can be found in the Space Telescope Science Institute Notebooks GitHub repository.
| Notebook Title | Usage |
|---|---|
| Slitlessutils Cookbook: Spectral Extraction for ΑCS/WFC Full-Frame |
G800L full frame data from ACS/WFC |
| Slitlessutils Cookbook: Spectral Extraction for ACS/WFC Subarrays |
G800L subarray data from ACS/WFC |
2. ACS iPosters at the June 2026 AAS Meeting
The ACS Team
The ACS team will present two posters at the 248th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in Pasadena, CA on June 14 through 18.
- "Recent Higlights from the Advanced Camera For Surveys' Solar Blind Channel (ACS/SBC)" by A. Guzman, R. J. Avila, and J. Anderson.
- "Slitlessutils v2.0" by R. J. Avila, R. Ryan, and the slitlessutils team.
3. New and improved ACS website
The ACS Team
Significant updates have been made to the ACS website. The main page has several improvements, including a description of the unique capabilities of ACS, a slideshow featuring notable ACS observations, and updated news and helpful links sections. Navigation between pages throughout the website has also been greatly enhanced.
Existing pages were updated, with some, e.g., CTE Information and Anomalies and Artifacts, undergoing substantial formatting changes to increase accessibility and presentation of information and images. A new PSF page was created in the Data Analysis section, which provides detailed ACS PSF information and links to download PSFs for each configuration available. The Analysis Tools page was also updated to reflect the various ACS-supported webtools and software, along with providing new Jupyter Notebooks for performing spectral extractions for full-frame and subarray data with slitlessutils.
4. Recent Instrument Science Reports
For a complete list with abstracts, please visit the ACS ISR webpage.
- ACS ISR 2026-03: "Investigating ACS/WFC Amp-to-Amp Sensitivities" (Anand, G. S. & Grogin, N. A.)