"PATCHED" data sets - mainly related to bright H-alpha emission

Eta Car's H-alpha emission line (6565 AA) was bright enough to saturate many pixels in STIS/CCD data with normal integration times. Therefore, whenever the 6768AA grating tilt was used, at least one very short exposure was also obtained in order to observe H-alpha.

A similar statement applies to a few of the STIS observations of H-beta (4862 AA).

In this context, in a special "patched" data set we replace the saturated and nearly-saturated pixels with information provided by short exposures. An appropriate technique was used, see Technical Memo 8.

The basic data sets have NOT been patched; instead, users should obtain the separate patched files which are clearly labeled.