Hubble Space Telescope
What's New for Cycle 23 Phase II

This Cycle 23 release of APT contains the following changes you should be aware of for Phase II Programs:

1. Export APT apertures to the MAST Portal interface - With one or more exposures or visits selected in APT, you can export the apertures and positions by clicking on File>Export> Exposures/Positions Coverage to MAST. From the MAST Portal you will be able to explore previous observations in the area of the one you are currently planning. You can also overlay the Hubble Source Catalog. For help getting started with the MAST Portal, watch the training video: How to use the MAST Portal from APT.)
2. New EXTENDED keyword for targets - For both Fixed and Solar System targets there is now a keyword to indicate whether the target is extended. It is only required for targets used in COS observations. For the purpose of this keyword an "Extended" object has FWHM > 0.6" or Radius > 0.3".
3. New warnings for COS/FUV exposures - The move of COS/FUV operations to Lifetime Position 3 on the detector required the implementation of a new FUV spectral extraction algorithm which is only optimized for point sources observed through the PSA. FUV spectra of extended sources and/or obtained through the BOA will be more complex and the standard pipeline calibration will not always produce the flux accuracy achieved for point sources observed with the PSA. Warnings have been added to APT to alert you. Read the STAN article on this topic for further details.
4. New default solar system target windows - If you are observing a planet with a large moon, you may notice that there are one or more new default target windows added of the form: NOT ECLIPSE PENUMBRAL PARTIAL OF {Target} BY {Moon} FROM EARTH. These are intended to prevent your observation from occurring when the target is in the shadow of a large moon.
5. New WFC3/UVIS apertures - The apertures UVIS2-C512C-CTE and UVIS2-C1K1C-CTE enable observers to automatically place a small target near a readout amplifier to reduce CTE losses. See the article in WFC3 STAN Issue 20. Note that the display of these apertures in Aladin does not include the UVIS interchip gap. The gap can be seen by turning on the FoV tool.
6. New diagnostic message about FLASH for WFC3/UVIS - A message is generated for exposures that may use too low or high a value of FLASH to mitigate CTE losses for a point source without needlessly increasing the noise. See the article in the upcoming WFC3 STAN Issue 21.
7. New sample sequence for WFC3/IR - The sample sequence SPARS5, intermediate between RAPID and SPARS10, is intended to allow the efficiency and uninterrupted time series of SPARS10 and yet be short enough in cadence to better isolate an exoplanet-host star from a nearby stellar companion in spatially-scanned observations using an IR grism. See the article in WFC3 STAN Issue 20.