This information was published by B.E. Woodgate et al., in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 110:1183–1204, 1998 October.

The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) is a general-purpose spectrograph designed to replace the first generation Hubble Space Telescope (HST) spectrographs and greatly enhance the HST spectroscopic capability (see Fig. 1). STIS capabilities with approximate resolving powers and spectral ranges include:

1. low-resolution spectral imaging (spectral resolving power R = λ/Δλ [FWHM] ~ 500–1000; long slits and wide apertures; 115–1000 nm covered in four bands);
2. medium-resolution spectral imaging (R ~ 5000–10,000; long slits; 115–1000 nm covered in 5–57 nm wavelength intervals);
3. medium-resolution echelle spectroscopy (R ~ 23,000– 35,000; short slits; only in the ultraviolet);
4. high-resolution echelle spectroscopy (R ~ 105,000; short slits; only in the ultraviolet);
5. objective spectroscopy (R ~ 50; wide field; one ultraviolet band, 115–310 nm); and
6. broadband imaging (ultraviolet or visible; a few filters available for identification and acquisition of line or continuum sources or for extending the dynamic range of acquisition capability).