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Preface
How to Use
this Handbook
Welcome to the third edition of the HST Data Handbook. The goal of this handbook, as in previous editions, is to show you how to work with HST data files, from acquiring them through the Archive, to displaying them on your workstation, to analyzing them with the IRAF and STSDAS software packages. New to this edition are chapters on HST's recently installed instruments-STIS and NICMOS-plus entirely new versions of the FGS chapters and an introduction to the FITS file format that will be standard for STIS and NICMOS data. This handbook assumes no previous knowledge of HST data, IRAF, or STSDAS beyond that needed to compose a successful HST observing proposal, but if you are unfamilar with IRAF, a basic primer is provided in Appendix A.
The material presented in this handbook provides an overview of the data reduction process, explaining what has been done to HST data files before you receive them and describing effective ways to analyze them. It collects all the basic information needed to analyze HST data into one place, focusing on the most crucial and commonly used tasks, and pointing toward other sources of more detailed information when needed. Additional help with HST data is always available via email to the STScI Help Desk at help@stsci.edu.
If you have no previous experience with HST, you should read the first three chapters of this handbook before proceeding to the chapters on the specific instruments. Appendixes B, C, and E, describe HST file names, Observation Logs, and Internet resources, respectively, and contain information of general interest. STIS and NICMOS observers who are already familiar with HST data should read at least section 2.2 of Chapter 2, which explains the new FITS format used for STIS and NICMOS data, and section 3.3.3 of Chapter 3, which introduces some new tasks for working with STIS and NICMOS data. The rest of this Preface provides more complete information on using the HST Data Handbook.
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Last updated: 11/13/97 16:06:16