When writing a NICMOS Observing Program, NICMOS observers are assigned a Program Coordinator (PC) as identified in their acceptance letter from the STScI Director. The PC will contact the observer to introduce themselves and help get the Phase II process started.
Additional help can be requested from a Contact Scientist (CS). A Contact Scientist is an Instrument Scientist involved in the calibration and characterization of NICMOS.A CS is assigned to ToO, Moving Target, and some other programs. They are not normally assigned to GO programs. A GO may request that a CS be assigned to their program.
The Phase II Proposal Instructions can be found on the STScI web page. STScI is no longer printing the Phase II Proposal Instructions (P2PI) and do not maintain an inventory of copies. To help the Observer get started, some additional information is provided for: parallel, patterns, and grism observations. For more specific Phase II related information, follow the links to the documents listed below.
Four MIF MULTIACCUM timing sequences (MIF512, MIF1024, MIF2048, and MIF3072) have been replaced by four new SPARS MULTIACCUM timing sequences. The four new timing sequences are SPARS4, SPARS16, SPARS32, and SPARS128. Each timing sequence has two rapid reads at the beginning and end with evenly spaced read outs of 4s, 16s, 32s, and 128s,respectively.
The individual detector read times for the new SPARS sequences are listed in Chapter 12 of the Cycle 14 Phase II Instructions. And, the timing sequences are selectable "Optional Parameters" with APT version 14.2 .
The new SPARS sequences can be most useful for fields with faint sources; i.e., galaxies, nebulae, and faint star clusters.
NICMOS Phase II Documentation
Advisories:
Important updates, discoveries and developments that could potentially affect NICMOS observations,calibration, or data analysis.
FAQs:
Frequently Asked Questions.
Q: NICMOS Predefined Patterns A: ...Q: Phase II Overheads A: ...
Q: How often would I have to acquire new guide stars? A: ...
Performance Summaries:
Status reports reflecting the current understanding of instrument characteristics, performance and calibration.
Plot of the Frequency of Parallel Exposures
Plot of the Distribution of Parallel Exposures on the Sky
Plot of the Distribution of the Exposure Times
Summary of NICMOS Parallel Programs
NICMOS Cycle 7 PAM Setting and Focus
Performance of the Coronagraph in Cycle 7
Handbooks:
The NICMOS Instrument Handbook is the primary guide regarding the characteristics and use of the instrument. The HST Data Handbook is the primary guide for calibration, reduction and analysis of NICMOS data.
Instrument Science Reports:
ISRs are technical reports written by members of the NICMOS Group about various aspects of the instrument and data. They usually contain in-depth information about specific topics.
R. Bohlin, D. Lindler, & A. Riess 10 May 2005
Papers and Proceedings:
Selected NICMOS related published papers and workshop proceedings.
Tutorials:
Cookbook style instructions, prescribed procedures, and helpful tips.
Examples:
Examples of how to use various NICMOS-related tools, calibration and analysis techniques.
Space Telescope Analysis Newsletters:
STANs contain useful information regarding calibration and data reduction.
NICMOS STScI Analysis Newsletter 34
HST Cycle 14 Phase II Submission Deadline, Release of APT 14.2 for HST Cycle 14, New SPARS MULTIACCUM Timing Sequences, Two Gyro Mode Guiding Test, Time-Limited Non-Linear Response of NICMOS at Low Count Rates, October 2005 Calibration Workshop, HST 700,000 Observation
NICMOS Group 26 Apr 2005 (html)
NICMOS STScI Analysis Newsletter 26
Discusses NICMOS patterns available for Cycle 11, a Phase 2 advisory regarding long wavelength NICMOS observations and updated NICMOS static bad pixel masks.
NICMOS Group 30 Jan 2002 (html)
NICMOS STScI Analysis Newsletter 15
NICMOS standard stars
NICMOS End-of-Life monitoring
NICMOS Prime Science Observations Update
NICMOS at the January 1999 Texas AAS Meeting
NICMOS Group 01 Nov 1998 (html)
NICMOS STScI Analysis Newsletter 9
Proceedings of the 1997 HST Calibration Workshop
Making Associations From Individual NICMOS Observations
New HST field-of-view plotting task available in STSDAS
NICMOS Group 01 Mar 1998 (html)
NICMOS STScI Analysis Newsletter 6
HST Data Handbook Version 3.0 released
Status of the NICMOS pure parallel program
NICMOS imaging polarimetry
NICMOS Group 01 Nov 1997 (html)
NICMOS STScI Analysis Newsletter 4
Changes to flight software to diminish residualbias & resulting new calibration reference files
Changes to the Exposure Time Calculator
History of calibration pipeline
Status of the coronagraph and recommendations for Cycle 7-NICMOS
Release of STSDAS/TABLES 2.0
NICMOS Group 01 Aug 1997 (html)