A Guide to STIS Analysis and Supporting Software
The STIS Data Handbook contains the primary guide to STIS data characteristics and analysis. Requests for STIS data from the HST Archive always return data reprocessed with the current version of CALSTIS and the best available reference files. In many cases, it is optimal to let the archive pipeline reprocess data for you. If standard pipeline processing is inadequate, however, CALSTIS may be downloaded and run locally. Other topics related to STIS data analysis are listed below, including available software packages.
Orbital Ephemeris Files
HST Orbital Ephemeris files are used for correcting observation time events of STIS TIME-TAG data. For a tabulated list of all the HST ephemeris files and instruction on how to download them, click here.
Tools for Planning STIS Observations
| Software Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|
| STIS Exposure Time Calculators (ETCs) | An online tool that predicts the count rates and S/N in various observing modes given specified source characteristics. STIS has both an Imaging and Spectroscopic ETC. |
| Target Acquisition Simulator (TAS) | A downloadable tool that applies the actual STIS target acquisition algorithm to a user supplied image. |
| Astronomer's Proposal Tool (APT) | The general proposal planning tool for all HST instruments. The Bright Object Tool (BOT) in APT is available for STIS CCD and STIS MAMA observations. |
Software Tools for Analyzing STIS Data
| Software Tools | Purpose |
|---|---|
| stistools |
The stistools python package provides Python-based data processing tools for working with Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) data. It contains the full STIS calibration pipeline as well as its individual components should the user wish to do their calibrations manually. |
| stisblazefix |
The stisblazefix python package is designed to empirically correct STIS echelle data for misalignment in the blaze function. |
| stis_cti |
The stis_cti python package implements the Anderson & Bedin (PASP 2010, 122: 1035-1064) pixel-based Charge Transfer Inefficiency (CTI)-correction on HST/STIS CCD data. It performs bias corrections on the data, performs CTI correction on the intermediate products, and finishes running the remaining CalSTIS processing steps. The complete package documentation can be found here. |
| TinyTim | A tool that generates STIS point spread function (PSF) images. |
