2. Getting Started

Before launching into designing, developing, creating and massaging a Spitzer Space Telescope observation, we will first need to gather the tools we will need, and dispense of a few preliminaries.

A good place to start to look for information of all kinds is at the Spitzer Science Center (SSC) webpage:

http://ssc.spitzer.caltech.edu/

There we find Spitzer observing rules, manuals, documentation, lists of approved observations, and Spot software (the software observers use to prepare observations and submit proposals). Links on this page will lead to general Spitzer information, instrument webpages, observer information, bulletins, and so on. g We won't attempt to be comprehensive here, but we would suggest you have a look at the following (at minimum):

Spitzer Observer's Manual:

http://ssc.spitzer.caltech.edu/documents/som/

Spitzer Planning Observations Tool (Spot) User's Guide:

http://ssc.spitzer.caltech.edu/documents/spot/

Proposal submission guide:

http://ssc.spitzer.caltech.edu/documents/propsubmission.html

Proposal kit webpage:

http://ssc.spitzer.caltech.edu/propkit/

Instrument Support Team webpages:

• IRAC: http://ssc.spitzer.caltech.edu/irac/

• IRS: http://ssc.spitzer.caltech.edu/irs/

• MIPS: http://ssc.spitzer.caltech.edu/mips/

Infrared Compendium:

http://ssc.spitzer.caltech.edu/documents/compendium/

Note: if the links above change, this document will be updated ASAP. However, if for some reason any of the links referenced in this manual appear to be outdated or not functioning, please look at the main SSC website (http://ssc.spitzer.caltech.edu/) and follow the links therein.

If you can't find the information you need on any of these websites, or if a link is outdated, please feel free to contact the ever-friendly Spitzer Helpdesk (mailto:help@spitzer.caltech.edu).