STSDAS: Space Telescope Science Data Analysis System
	Version 1.3.5, July 23, 1996.

STSDAS is the software system for calibrating and analyzing data 
       from the Hubble Space Telescope. The package is large and powerful,
       containing programs, called "tasks", to perform a wide range of 
       functions supporting the entire data analysis process, from reading 
       your tapes, through recalibration and analysis, to producing your 
       final plots and images.

STSDAS is built on top of the IRAF system developed at NOAO. This 
       means that any task in IRAF can be used in STSDAS, To effectively 
       exploit the power of STSDAS, you will need to learn the basics of IRAF.

       If you do not have been jet configured the IRAF environment see the
       IRAF section in this gopher area.

       To get help, use the on-line help facility. You need to type
       the "help" command which takes as an argument the task or package 
       name about which you want help. To find the tasks use the
       "apropos" task to search the apropos database.

STSDAS also uses the TABLES external package, which is a table I/O system 
       that supports the transfer of tabular data from one application
       to another.
       There is a table manipulation tool kit that allows one to use tables as 
       small relational databases.

HST_PIPELINE  package has also been installed. HST_PIPELINE is a 
       package composed of the different versions of the HST instruments 
       calibration tasks. The package is not used by any STSDAS or TABLES 
       routines. The package tracks the changes of the calibration tasks
       by providing the different versions of the calibration routines, few 
       users will need these tasks.

SYNPHOT package simulates photometric data and spectra as they are observed
       with the Hubble Space Telescop (HST). Synphot tasks will:
       - Plot HST sensitivity curves and calibration target spectra.
       - Predict count rates for observations in any available HST
         instrument mode.
       - Compute the photometric calibration for any HST instrument mode.
       - Examine photometric transformation relationship among the various
         HST observing modes as well as conventional photometric systems,
         such as Johnson UBV. 

MULTIRED is a software package designed by O. Le Fevre (Le Fevre
       et al., 1995, ApJ, 455, 60) to process multi-slit spectra based on 
       the "onedspec" and "twodspec" packages available in IRAF. 
       MULTORED processes raw 2D spectra images produced by multi-slit 
       spectrographs into a list of  bias/flat/sky  corrected 2D  spectra  
       and fully calibrated 1D spectra.  It has been designed to operate in 
       sequence on a list of slit positions (multi-slit data), and to  process 
       each  raw  2D  spectra associated  with  one given slit (multiple 
       exposures). It is ideally suited for data produced by new generation 
       multi-slit  spectrographs like  the  MOS-SIS  instrument at CFHT, but 
       it can also be used to process standard long slit spectra, when used 
       with  only  one  (long) slit defined in the slit position file.
       The user is recommended to get familiar  with  the ONEDSPEC  package  
       and/or the interactive curve fitting capabilities provided in tools 
       like IMAGES/FIT1D  or  ONEDSPEC/BACKGROUND  before using  MULTRED.  
       However,  at  each  interactive graphic stage, the user retains the 
       general IRAF capability of on line help by typing <?>

The STSDAS User's Manual is available in three different forms:

      HTML pages at the address:
           http://www.ira.inaf.it/ira-docs/calcolo.html

      Postscript files at the same web address

      Manuals in room 307 

Contact Person:

        F.Tinarelli    tinarelli@ira.inaf.it