Version 18.2 of the APT should be released in the first week of June 2010, and must be used for all Cycle 18 Phase 2 proposal submissions. Notable changes in APT 18.2 that are significant for COS and STIS programs include:
- The Bright Object Tool (BOT) now can optionally use GALEX data in place of GSC2 data for field bright object checks. Users must be sure to verify that the available GALEX data covers the entire region of interest. We recommend examining both the GALEX images and point source catalog for each field.
- The APT now provides the option to enter target proper motions in units of mas/yr or "/yr in addition to units of seconds of time/yr. This allows proper motion values from most modern cataloges such as Hipparcos, Tycho, or UCAC3 to be entered directly without any error prone manual conversion of units. Users are reminded to ensure that the specified epoch of the target position and the coordinates given are consistent.
- The relation between the STIS long slits and the MAMA detectors is more clearly displayed. Note that the phyical apertures are longer than the field of view covered by the MAMA detector. One aspect of the display that is not yet correctly represented is the offset to the grating tilts used for the G140L and G140M modes to avoid putting a target centered in the aperture on top of the detector repeller wire.