3.4 Designing STIS Observations
In this section, we describe the sequence of steps you will need to take when designing your STIS observing proposal. The process is an iterative one, as you trade off between maximum spatial and spectral resolution, signal-to-noise, and the limitations of the instrument itself. The basic sequence of steps in defining a STIS observation (see Figure 3.3) is:
- Identify science requirements and select basic STIS configuration to support those requirements.
- Estimate exposure time to achieve required signal-to-noise ratio and check feasibility, including saturation and bright object limits.
- Identify any additional non-science (target acquisition, peakup and calibration) exposures needed.
- Calculate total number of orbits required, taking into account the overhead. Use APT to obtain accurate estimates of orbit length.
3.4.1 Identify Science Requirements and Define STIS Configuration
First and foremost, you must identify the science you wish to achieve with STIS. Some basic decisions you will need to make are:
- Spectroscopy or imaging?
- Wavelength region(s) of interest?
- Spectral resolution and spectral coverage required?
- Nature of target—extended source (long slit or full aperture) or point source?
In addition you will need to establish whether you require:
- High signal-to-noise ratio
- Time resolution
- Coronagraphy
- High photometric accuracy
Table 3.1: Science Decision Guide.
Decision | Affects | Tradeoffs |
---|---|---|
Wavelength regime | Detector and gratings | 1640–10,300 Å — |
Spectral resolution | Detector, gratings, aperture | R < 20,000 (first order) with |
Spectral range | Gratings | Spectral range covered in a single exposure differs radically for different gratings. |
Extended or | Gratings | First-order gratings designed for spatially resolved and point source observations. |
Time resolution | Detector | If time resolution <20 seconds required, must use |
Coronagraphy | Detector and aperture | Bright-object1 coronagraphy available with |
1 The bright object limits for MAMA observations apply to coronagraphic observations as well, i.e., coronagraphic observations of targets which are too bright for the MAMA detectors are not allowed.
Spectroscopy
For spectroscopic observations, the configuration is: detector (CONFIGURATION
), operating mode (MODE=ACCUM
or TIME-TAG
), slit (APERTURE
), grating (SPECTRAL
ELEMENT
), and central wavelength (CENWAVE
). In Chapter 4 we provide detailed information about each of the spectroscopic grating modes of STIS.
Imaging
For imaging observations, the configuration is detector (CONFIGURATION
), operating mode (MODE=ACCUM
or TIME-TAG
), and filter (APERTURE
); the mirror will be used as the spectral element for imaging observations. Chapter 5 presents detailed information about each of STIS' imaging modes.
Special Uses
We refer you to Chapter 12 if you are interested in any of the following special uses of STIS: slitless spectroscopy or extended-source echelle observations, time-resolved work, bright object or high signal-to-noise observations, planetary studies, parallel observations, coronagraphy, spatially scanned spectra.
3.4.2 Determine Exposure Time and Check Feasibility
Once you have selected your basic STIS configuration, the next steps are:
- Estimate the exposure time needed to achieve your required signal-to-noise ratio, given your source brightness. (You can use the STIS Exposure Time Calculator (ETC) for this: see Chapter 6 and the plots in Chapter 13 and Chapter 14.)
- For observations using the MAMA detectors, assure that your observations do not exceed brightness (count rate) limits (see Section 7.7). (You can use the STIS ETC for this.)
- For observations using the MAMA detectors, assure that for pixels of interest your observations do not exceed the limit of 65,536 accumulated counts/pix per exposure imposed by the STIS 16 bit buffer (see Section 7.5.1).
- For observations using the CCD detector, assure that for pixels of interest, you do not exceed the per pixel saturation count limit of the CCD. (You can use the STIS ETC for this.)
- For MAMA
TIME-TAG
exposures check that your observations are feasible and do not violate anyTIME-TAG
specific count rate or data volume constraints (see Chapter 11).
To determine your exposure time requirements, consult Chapter 6 where an explanation of how to calculate signal-to-noise and a description of the sky backgrounds are provided. To assess whether you are close to the brightness, signal-to-noise, and dynamic range limitations of the detectors, refer to Chapter 7. For a consideration of data-taking strategies and calibration exposures, consult Chapter 11.
If you find that the exposure time needed to meet your signal-to-noise requirements is too great, or that you are constrained by the detector's brightness or dynamic range limitations, you will need to adjust your base STIS configuration. Table 3.2 summarizes the options available to you and steps you may wish to take as you iterate to select a STIS configuration which is both suited to your science and technically feasible.
Table 3.2: Feasibility Guide.
Action | Outcome | Recourse |
---|---|---|
Estimate exposure time | If too long, then re-evaluate | Reduce resolving power, or use wider slit, or change detectors and wavelength regime, or use larger binning. |
Check saturation limit for CCD observations | If you wish to avoid saturation, then reduce time per exposure. | Divide total exposure time into multiple, short exposures.1 |
Check bright object limits for MAMA observations | If source is too bright, then re-evaluate instrument configuration. | Increase spectral resolution, or choose narrower slit, or use neutral-density filter, or change detectors and wavelength regime. |
Check 65,536 counts/pix limit for MAMA observations2 | If limit exceeded, then reduce time per exposure. | Divide total exposure time into multiple, short exposures.3 |
1 Splitting CCD exposures increases the exposure time needed to achieve a given signal-to-noise ratio because of the read noise. Splitting an exposure into multiple exposures also increases the overheads, slightly reducing on-source time.
2 See Section 7.5.1.
3 Splitting MAMA exposures has no effect on signal-to-noise ratio since there is no read noise with the MAMAs. Splitting an exposure into multiple exposures does increase the overheads, slightly reducing on-source time. See Chapter 9 for more information.
3.4.3 Identify Need for Non-Science Exposures and Constraints
Having identified your desired sequence of science exposures, you need to determine what non-science exposures you may require to achieve your scientific goals. Specifically, you need to:
- Determine which (if any) target acquisition and acquisition peakup exposures will be needed to center your target in your aperture to the accuracy required for your scientific aims (e.g., you may wish to center the nucleus of a galaxy in the 52 × 0.1 arcsecond slit and orient the long axis of the slit along the major axis of the galaxy to some accuracy). To assess your acquisition needs, refer to Chapter 8. To determine a specific orientation for the STIS long slit, refer to Chapter 11.
- If you require more accurate wavelength zero points than the routine calibrations provide, you can insert additional comparison lamp exposures (
TARGET_NAME=WAVE
) at shorter intervals or of longer duration than the routine, automatic wavecal observations. To determine your wavelength calibration exposure needs, refer to Chapter 11. - CCD observations longward of 7000 Å are subject to severe fringing, which can be well corrected only by flat-field exposures obtained contemporaneously with the science exposures. Hence, you should include such flat-field exposures if observing near 7000 Å or longward. Fringing is discussed in Chapter 7 and the specification of corrective flat fields (
CCDFLAT
s) is discussed in Chapter 11.
3.4.4 Determine Total Orbit Request
In this, the final step, you place all your exposures (science and non-science, alike) into visits, including tabulated overheads, and determine the total number of orbits you require. Refer to Chapter 9 when performing this step. If you are observing a point source and find your total time request is significantly affected by data transfer overheads (which will be the case only if you are taking many separate exposures under 3 minutes), you can consider the use of CCD subarrays to lessen the data volume. Subarrays are described in Section 11.1 CCD Subarrays.
Due to the sensitivity of certain STIS electronic components to charged particles, there are some special constraints on the duration and structure of MAMA visits which preclude operating the MAMAs at all during orbits which cross the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA). Since there are a limited number of SAA-free orbits per day, MAMA visits are limited to a maximum of five orbits. Longer programs must be broken into shorter visits. Moreover, in order to conserve orbits available for MAMA observations, programs which combine CCD and MAMA observations must be divided into separate visits for each detector type, unless the CCD portion consumes less than 30 minutes including overheads or the visit is only one orbit long (see Chapter 2).
At this point, if you are happy with the total number of orbits required, you're done! If you are unhappy with the total number of orbits required, you can re-iterate by adjusting your instrument configuration, lessening your acquisition requirements, changing your signal-to-noise or wavelength requirements, until you find a scenario which allows you to achieve (and convince the Telescope Allocation Committee [TAC] of the merits of) your scientific goals with STIS.
-
STIS Instrument Handbook
- • Acknowledgments
- Chapter 1: Introduction
-
Chapter 2: Special Considerations for Cycle 32
- • 2.1 STIS Repair and Return to Operations
- • 2.2 Summary of STIS Performance Changes Since 2004
- • 2.3 New Capabilities for Cycle 32
- • 2.4 Use of Available-but-Unsupported Capabilities
- • 2.5 Choosing Between COS and STIS
- • 2.6 Scheduling Efficiency and Visit Orbit Limits
- • 2.7 MAMA Scheduling Policies
- • 2.8 Prime and Parallel Observing: MAMA Bright-Object Constraints
- • 2.9 STIS Snapshot Program Policies
- Chapter 3: STIS Capabilities, Design, Operations, and Observations
- Chapter 4: Spectroscopy
- Chapter 5: Imaging
- Chapter 6: Exposure Time Calculations
- Chapter 7: Feasibility and Detector Performance
-
Chapter 8: Target Acquisition
- • 8.1 Introduction
- • 8.2 STIS Onboard CCD Target Acquisitions - ACQ
- • 8.3 Onboard Target Acquisition Peakups - ACQ PEAK
- • 8.4 Determining Coordinates in the International Celestial Reference System (ICRS) Reference Frame
- • 8.5 Acquisition Examples
- • 8.6 STIS Post-Observation Target Acquisition Analysis
- Chapter 9: Overheads and Orbit-Time Determination
- Chapter 10: Summary and Checklist
- Chapter 11: Data Taking
-
Chapter 12: Special Uses of STIS
- • 12.1 Slitless First-Order Spectroscopy
- • 12.2 Long-Slit Echelle Spectroscopy
- • 12.3 Time-Resolved Observations
- • 12.4 Observing Too-Bright Objects with STIS
- • 12.5 High Signal-to-Noise Ratio Observations
- • 12.6 Improving the Sampling of the Line Spread Function
- • 12.7 Considerations for Observing Planetary Targets
- • 12.8 Special Considerations for Extended Targets
- • 12.9 Parallel Observing with STIS
- • 12.10 Coronagraphic Spectroscopy
- • 12.11 Coronagraphic Imaging - 50CORON
- • 12.12 Spatial Scans with the STIS CCD
-
Chapter 13: Spectroscopic Reference Material
- • 13.1 Introduction
- • 13.2 Using the Information in this Chapter
-
13.3 Gratings
- • First-Order Grating G750L
- • First-Order Grating G750M
- • First-Order Grating G430L
- • First-Order Grating G430M
- • First-Order Grating G230LB
- • Comparison of G230LB and G230L
- • First-Order Grating G230MB
- • Comparison of G230MB and G230M
- • First-Order Grating G230L
- • First-Order Grating G230M
- • First-Order Grating G140L
- • First-Order Grating G140M
- • Echelle Grating E230M
- • Echelle Grating E230H
- • Echelle Grating E140M
- • Echelle Grating E140H
- • PRISM
- • PRISM Wavelength Relationship
-
13.4 Apertures
- • 52X0.05 Aperture
- • 52X0.05E1 and 52X0.05D1 Pseudo-Apertures
- • 52X0.1 Aperture
- • 52X0.1E1 and 52X0.1D1 Pseudo-Apertures
- • 52X0.2 Aperture
- • 52X0.2E1, 52X0.2E2, and 52X0.2D1 Pseudo-Apertures
- • 52X0.5 Aperture
- • 52X0.5E1, 52X0.5E2, and 52X0.5D1 Pseudo-Apertures
- • 52X2 Aperture
- • 52X2E1, 52X2E2, and 52X2D1 Pseudo-Apertures
- • 52X0.2F1 Aperture
- • 0.2X0.06 Aperture
- • 0.2X0.2 Aperture
- • 0.2X0.09 Aperture
- • 6X0.2 Aperture
- • 0.1X0.03 Aperture
- • FP-SPLIT Slits 0.2X0.06FP(A-E) Apertures
- • FP-SPLIT Slits 0.2X0.2FP(A-E) Apertures
- • 31X0.05ND(A-C) Apertures
- • 0.2X0.05ND Aperture
- • 0.3X0.05ND Aperture
- • F25NDQ Aperture
- 13.5 Spatial Profiles
- 13.6 Line Spread Functions
- • 13.7 Spectral Purity, Order Confusion, and Peculiarities
- • 13.8 MAMA Spectroscopic Bright Object Limits
-
Chapter 14: Imaging Reference Material
- • 14.1 Introduction
- • 14.2 Using the Information in this Chapter
- 14.3 CCD
- 14.4 NUV-MAMA
-
14.5 FUV-MAMA
- • 25MAMA - FUV-MAMA, Clear
- • 25MAMAD1 - FUV-MAMA Pseudo-Aperture
- • F25ND3 - FUV-MAMA
- • F25ND5 - FUV-MAMA
- • F25NDQ - FUV-MAMA
- • F25QTZ - FUV-MAMA, Longpass
- • F25QTZD1 - FUV-MAMA, Longpass Pseudo-Aperture
- • F25SRF2 - FUV-MAMA, Longpass
- • F25SRF2D1 - FUV-MAMA, Longpass Pseudo-Aperture
- • F25LYA - FUV-MAMA, Lyman-alpha
- • 14.6 Image Mode Geometric Distortion
- • 14.7 Spatial Dependence of the STIS PSF
- • 14.8 MAMA Imaging Bright Object Limits
- Chapter 15: Overview of Pipeline Calibration
- Chapter 16: Accuracies
-
Chapter 17: Calibration Status and Plans
- • 17.1 Introduction
- • 17.2 Ground Testing and Calibration
- • 17.3 STIS Installation and Verification (SMOV2)
- • 17.4 Cycle 7 Calibration
- • 17.5 Cycle 8 Calibration
- • 17.6 Cycle 9 Calibration
- • 17.7 Cycle 10 Calibration
- • 17.8 Cycle 11 Calibration
- • 17.9 Cycle 12 Calibration
- • 17.10 SM4 and SMOV4 Calibration
- • 17.11 Cycle 17 Calibration Plan
- • 17.12 Cycle 18 Calibration Plan
- • 17.13 Cycle 19 Calibration Plan
- • 17.14 Cycle 20 Calibration Plan
- • 17.15 Cycle 21 Calibration Plan
- • 17.16 Cycle 22 Calibration Plan
- • 17.17 Cycle 23 Calibration Plan
- • 17.18 Cycle 24 Calibration Plan
- • 17.19 Cycle 25 Calibration Plan
- • 17.20 Cycle 26 Calibration Plan
- • 17.21 Cycle 27 Calibration Plan
- • 17.22 Cycle 28 Calibration Plan
- • 17.23 Cycle 29 Calibration Plan
- • 17.24 Cycle 30 Calibration Plan
- • 17.25 Cycle 31 Calibration Plan
- Appendix A: Available-But-Unsupported Spectroscopic Capabilities
- • Glossary