Chapter 7:
Feasibility and Detector Performance
7.1 The CCD
7.1.1 Detector Properties
7.1.2 Effects of the Change to STIS Side-2 Electronics on CCD Performance
7.1.3 CCD Spectral Response
7.1.4 CCD Sensitivity
7.1.5 CCD Long-Wavelength Fringing
7.1.6 Fringing due to the Order Sorter Filters
7.1.7 Optical Performance
7.1.8 Readout Format
7.1.9 Analog-to-Digital Conversion: Selecting the CCDGAIN
7.2 CCD Operation and Feasibility Considerations
7.2.1 CCD Saturation
7.2.2 CCD Shutter Effects
7.2.3 Cosmic Rays
7.2.4 Hot Pixels
7.2.5 CCD Bias Subtraction and Amplifier Non-Linearity
7.2.6 Charge Transfer Efficiency
7.2.7 Mitigation of CTE Loss for Long-slit Spectroscopy
7.2.8 UV Light and the STIS CCD
7.3 The MAMA Detectors
7.3.1 MAMA Properties
7.3.2 MAMA Spectral Response
7.3.3 MAMA Sensitivity
7.3.4 Optical Performance
7.4 MAMA Operation and Feasibility Considerations
7.4.1 MAMA Saturation-Overflowing the 16 Bit Buffer
7.4.2 MAMA Darks
7.4.3 MAMA Signal-to-Noise Ratio Limitations
7.4.4 MAMA Non-linearity
7.5 MAMA Spectral Offsetting
7.6 MAMA Bright-Object Limits
7.6.1 Overview
7.6.2 Observational Limits
7.6.3 How Do You Determine if You Violate a Bright Object Limit?
7.6.4 Policy and Observers' Responsibility in Phase I and Phase II
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It is the observers' responsibility to ensure that their observations do not exceed the bright-object count limits stated in Table 7.8.
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7.6.5 Policy on Observations That Fail Because they Exceed Bright-Object Limits
7.6.6 What To Do If Your Source is Too Bright for Your Chosen Configuration?
7.6.7 Bright-Object Protection for Solar System Observations
7.6.8 Jupiter and Saturn
STIS employs two fundamentally different types of detectors: a UV-optimized CCD for use from the near-UV to the near-IR, and Multi-Anode Microchannel Array detectors, known as MAMAs, for use in the ultraviolet. The CCD and the MAMA detectors are used in different ways and impose their own unique limitations on the feasibility of observations performed with them. In this chapter we present the properties of the STIS detectors, describe how to use them to optimize scientific programs, and list the steps you should take to ensure the feasibility of your observations.
