Post-processing of the HST STIS coronagraphic observations

TL;DR

This paper presents new post-processing techniques applied to the extensive HST STIS coronagraphic archive, improving the detection of circumstellar disks and enabling exploration of inner regions close to stars.

Contribution

It introduces advanced post-processing methods for the HST STIS archive, enhancing contrast and recovering disks more effectively than previous approaches.

Findings

Successfully recovered all 32 known circumstellar disks

Achieved better contrast near the star

Enabled exploration of inner regions as close as 0.2"

Abstract

In the past 20 years, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) STIS coronagraphic instrument has observed more than 100 stars, obtaining more than 4,000 readouts since its installment on HST in 1997 and the numbers are still increasing. We reduce the whole STIS coronagraphic archive at the most commonly observed positions (Wedge A0.6 and A1.0) with new post-processing methods, and present our results here. We are able to recover all of the 32 previously reported circumstellar disks, and obtain better contrast close to the star. For some of the disks, our results are limited by the over subtraction of the methods, and therefore the major regions of the disks can be recovered except the faintest regions. We also explain our efforts in the calibration of its new BAR5 occulting position, enabling STIS to explore inner regions as close as 0.2".