Introduction

This chapter provides reference material to help you select your filter and detector configuration and determine your observing plan (e.g., total required exposure time, and number of exposures). This chapter is, for the most part, organized by filter and detector. For each imaging mode the following are provided:

• A table of integrated system efficiencies and zeropoints for all the modes.
• Plots and tables of throughput and sensitivity as a function of wavelength.
• Where useful, plots of throughput on a logarithmic scale to show out-of band throughput (redleak or blueleak) for the different filters.
• Plots of the time needed to achieve a desired signal-to-noise ratio vs. magnitude for broadband filters and vs. line flux for narrowband filters.
• Plots of the PSF and encircled energies, along with a logarithmic-scale image of the PSF.

In addition, we provide the following sections:

• MAMA Imaging Bright Object Limits presents screening tables of bright object magnitudes for sources of different spectral type, for use in deciding if a MAMA imaging observation is safe.
• Image-Mode Geometric Distortion presents information on the geometry of the MAMA and CCD imaging modes.
• Spatial Dependence of the STIS PSF presents information on the changes of the PSF with position in the STIS field of view.