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About STIS

GIF of Jupiter's aurora taken with STIS
Over the course of Cycle 24 and 151 orbits, STIS was used to observe Jupiter's moons and aurorae in program 14634 (PI: Grodent). The data used to produce this GIF was taken with the STIS FUV-MAMA in TIMETAG mode.

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) was installed on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) during the second servicing mission (SM2) in 1997. STIS is a versatile imaging spectrograph, providing spatially resolved spectroscopy from 1150 to 10300 Å at low to medium spectral resolution, high spatial resolution echelle spectroscopy in the UV, solar-blind imaging in the UV, time-tagging of photons for high time resolution in the UV, and direct and coronagraphic imaging in the optical.

STIS operated on Side-1 electronics until 2001, when it experienced an electronic failure. It then switched to the redundant set of electronics, Side-2, where it operated as normal until 2004, when a power supply on Side-2 failed. STIS remained inoperable until it was repaired successfully in 2009 during Servicing Mission 4 (SM4). STIS has since been operating on Side-2 electronics with all ultraviolet and optical channels.

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STIS Handbooks and Documentation:

STIS Instrument Handbook

STIS Data Handbook

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Current Status

STIS is Operational.

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HST Spectroscopic Legacy Archive (HSLA)

 

Program Information

STIS Instrument Resources

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Last Updated: 03/16/2026

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