HST Cycle 26 Phase II Proposal Roadmap

Step-by-step guide to preparing a Phase II proposal for the Hubble Space Telescope Cycle 26.

Late Breaking News

The call for HST Cycle 26 GO and AR proposals is now closed.

Investigators may still submit proposals for Cycle 26 Mid-Cycle Time or Director's Discretionary Time.

For the current Call for Proposals, see Hubble Space Telescope Call for Proposals for Cycle 27

 Phase II Proposal Roadmap

This is a high level step-by-step guide to writing a Phase II Proposal. The complete Phase II Proposal Instructions are available from Cycle 25 (also as a PDF), with an updated Cycle 26 version forthcoming.

There is also a Phase I Roadmap. It assumes that you already have (from Phase I): Targets identified, instrument configurations selected, exposure times calculated, and a visit strategy in mind.

Changes: If anything needs to be changed in what was requested in Phase I (targets, filters, apertures) you will need to talk to your Program Coordinator and/or Contact Scientist. If the change is major (instruments, orbit allocation) you will need to apply to the TTRB for the change. If you need to add or delete a Co-I please e-mail Dr. Claus Leitherer (leitherer@stsci.edu).

Contents

  1. Read the e-mails

    You should have received two important e-mails: The award letter from Dr. Sembach contains your Program Coordinator's contact information, the proposal's Phase II Proposal ID number, TAC approved allocation, and TAC comments. A few days after the award letter you should get an e-mail from your PC. Please read both letters.


  2. Install the latest version of APT

    The version of APT that you used in Phase I needs to be replaced with the current release. Please download and install the latest version of APT for macOS, Linux, or Windows.
     

  3. Get set up to view training movies

    While most of the documentation for APT is available in both flash movie and text form, the movies are better for learning how to use APT the first time. The APT Training Materials page helps you get set up to view the movies.


  4. Get familiar with APT

    Here is some good general getting started documentation:


  5. Start APT and load your Phase I proposal

    • You can retrieve your proposal from STScI within APT by using File > Retrieve from STScI

    • Or you can start with your own copy of the submitted proposal


  6. Convert your Phase I proposal to Phase II proposal

    • Click on your proposal to select it

    • Push the button that says  Phase I->II 

    • When prompted, decide if you want to copy over the Phase I target coordinates.

    • The converted proposal will contain title, abstract, investigator list, and target list


  7. Fill in the remaining Proposal Information

    • In APT, click on the Proposal Information folder 

    • Fill in the Phase II ID (if you started with a local copy of the Phase I)

    • Fill in observing description (this may be copied from your PDF attachment and edited with any changes in strategy)


  8. Update the Target Information

    In APT, open the targets folder  and fill in the remaining required information for each target.

    (You can use APT's context sensitive help to take you to the appropriate reference for each field, you can click on the links here to get an html version of the appropriate section, or you can bring up the PDF version of the P2PI and navigate to the appropriate section.)

    Note that if you have GSC1 coordinates (from an old proposal), you will need to convert them to GSC2 (ICRS); there is a simple web-based conversion tool available to do the conversion. DSS images from the Phase II download site already have the GSC2 (ICRS) world coordinate system in place, so coordinates measurements will be in the GSC2 (ICRS) reference frame.



  9. Pattern Specification

    You may need to create pattern specifications if you:

    If you do need to create pattern specifications: 


  10. Define a Visit


  11. Enter one Exposure


  12. Patterns

    If this exposure will use a pattern specification you have defined you need to create a pattern container

    • In APT (with the exposure selected) click on the button that says  New Pattern

    • Drag the exposure into this container. If more than one exposure will be done at each pattern point, create the next exposure while the container is selected.

    • Alternately, with the exposure selected, right click and select Group then New Pattern. This will put the exposure in a Pattern Container. You will then need to select the name of the pattern. Note that you can select multiple exposures and place them all in the same Pattern Container at one time.

    • Use APT's context sensitive help or go to Chapter 8 of the P2PI

    • See the APT Training materials: Creating patterns: Movie (4.5 minutes) or  Text equivalent 


  13. Parallels

    If this exposure will have one or more coordinated parallel exposures, you will need to create a parallel container. 

    • In APT (with the exposure selected) click on the button that says  New Parallel 

    • Drag the primary exposure into this container. Create the parallel exposure while the container is selected.

    • Alternately, with the exposure selected, right click and select Group then New Parallel. This will put the exposure in a Parallel Container. Note that you can selected multiple exposures (e.g. the Prime and Parallel exposures) and place them all in the same Parallel Container at one time.

    • Information on coordinated parallels is in section 6.3 of the P2PI 

    • See the APT Training materials: Creating coordinated parallel observations: Movie (3 minutes) or Text equivalent

    • Coordinated parallels must have been approved by the TAC in Phase I. 


  14. Non-Interruptible Sequences

    If this exposure and the following ones must be done without interruption, you will need to create a Non-Interruptible Sequence container.

    • In APT (with the exposure selected) click on the button that says  New Sequence

    • Drag the exposure into this container. Create the next exposure while the container is selected.

    • Alternately, with the exposure selected, right click and select Group then New Sequence. This will put the exposure in a Sequence Container. Note that you can selected multiple exposures (e.g. all the exposures you want in the sequence) and place them all in the same Sequence Container at one time.

    • Information on non-interruptible sequences is in section 7.3.5 of the P2PI

    • See the APT Training materials: Creating non-interruptible exposure sequences: Movie (3 minutes) or Text equivalent


  15. Complete the rest of the exposures in the visit


  16. See how the exposures fit in orbits


  17. See how the visit schedules


  18. Review your completed visit specification


  19. Perform Bright Object Checking

    If there are exposures in one of the photon-counting UV detectors (ACS/SBC, COS/FUV, COS/NUV, STIS/FUV-MAMA, or STIS/NUV-MAMA), you will need to perform bright object checking on both the primary science target and all objects in the detector macroaperture.

    • for the prime target, use the appropriate Exposure Time Calculator (ETC)

    • for the field objects, use the Bright Object Tool (BOT) in APT and, if necessary, the ETC

    • See the APT training material on running the Bright Object Tool:


  20. Graphically preview your visit against an image (optional)

    1. In APT, click on the Aladin interface tool 

    2. There is text documentation for how to use Aladin available under the Help menu
    3. You can find additional documentation on Aladin on the APT training materials Page
       

  21. Make the rest of the visits (and process and review them)

  22. Make target confirmation charts (Fixed targets only)

    If you have fixed targets, generate target confirmation charts to confirm the coordinates of your objects; note that the charts can also be used to verify proper motion values (if supplied).

      • Select the targets you wish to make charts for. You can select one target, multiple targets, or all targets.

      • Click on the Target Confirmation tool 

      • See the APT training material on creating confirmation charts (Movie (4 minutes) or Text equivalent).


  23. Submit

    • In APT, click on the Submit tool 

    • Click on the Submit Phase II button
    • If there are remaining warnings (but you understand them) or there are remaining errors (and your PC says they are OK) please type a short explanation in the pop up box and the submit button on the pop up box will become active.

     

  24. Give us feedback

    This roadmap was created in response to feedback from our users. If you found it helpful, or have suggestions for making it better, please let us know. You can also provide feedback on other aspects of APT or its documentation. You can send your comments to your PC or to the STScI Help Desk.


Last modified: June 20, 2017.

Related Links

Complete Phase II Proposal Instructions (also available as a PDF) for Cycle 25 (updated Cycle 26 version forthcoming)

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HST Proposal Opportunities and Science Policies

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