Welcome to the Hubble Legacy Archive

The Hubble Legacy Archive (HLA) is designed to optimize science from the Hubble Space Telescope by providing online, enhanced Hubble products and advanced browsing capabilities. The HLA is a joint project of the Space Telescope Science Institute, the Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility, and the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre.

Some of the primary enhancements include:

Putting the data online for immediate access
Adding a footprint service to make it easier to browse and download images
Providing more extensive "composite images" (e.g., stacked, color, mosaics)
Improving absolute astrometry (i.e., from ~ 1-2" to ~ 0.3") when there is sufficient overlap with the Guide Star Catalog 2 (GSC2), the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), or Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) See astrometric accuracy FAQ
Developing source lists
Making NICMOS grism extractions (produced at ECF)

We are currently in the Data Release 1 (DR1) phase of the project. The focus for this release is to support proposal preparation for Cycle 17 HST observations. Hence, footprints are available for ACS, WFPC2, STIS, NICMOS, FOS, and GHRS. However, enhanced data products are only available for ACS, NICMOS grism extractions, and a few WFPC2 observations (beta testing; not validated yet hence not recommended for scientific analysis). For the other instruments with footprints we are making the MAST (Multimission Archive at Space Telescope) preview images available. The matrix below provides a snapshot of the current HLA products. We would appreciate your help in testing the system and providing feedback by sending us a quick e-mail with any problems or suggestions. You may also send comments via the anonymous suggestion box. If you would like to be informed of updates to the HLA please use the subscribe to news button.

We recommend that first time HLA users begin by viewing this introductory movie A Basic Introduction to the HLA and the Interactive Display (~8 min)
You may also go here to see other movies.

Here are a few essentials to help get you started. Please consult the HELP page (especially the FAQ) for more details.

HLA ESSENTIALS

The HLA runs using Firefox , Safari (version 3) or a compatible browser.

Here is a matrix describing what is and is not in the HLA:

Instrument/Product	Source	HLA Enhanced Products	Standard Products	Download	Interactive Display?
Notes: Beta products are being validated and are not currently recommended for scientific analysis. DADS downloads require a request to the DADS system.
ACS/combined images	STScI	~90%		FITS	✔
ACS/DAOPHOT source lists	STScI	~50%, <~2004		Ascii	✔
ACS/SExtractor source lists	STScI	~10%, Beta product¹		Ascii	✔
WFPC2/combined images	CADC	Coming Soon, Beta product¹		FITS	✔
WFPC2/single exposures	STScI		100%	DADS²
NICMOS/GRISM extractions	ST-ECF	~80%, 1-D & 2-D spectra		FITS
NICMOS images	STScI		100%	DADS²
STIS images and spectra	STScI		100%	FITS	✔
FOS spectra	STScI		100%	Tar
GHRS spectra	STScI		100%	Tar

Enter Site here.

--- The HLA Team
February 2008