TY - JOUR
T1 - The 2012 Hubble Ultra Deep Field (UDF12)
T2 - Observational Overview
AU - Koekemoer, Anton M.
AU - Ellis, Richard S.
AU - McLure, Ross J.
AU - Dunlop, James S.
AU - Robertson, Brant E.
AU - Ono, Yoshiaki
AU - Schenker, Matthew A.
AU - Ouchi, Masami
AU - Bowler, Rebecca A. A.
AU - Rogers, Alexander B.
AU - Curtis-Lake, Emma
AU - Schneider, Evan
AU - Charlot, Stephane
AU - Stark, Daniel P.
AU - Furlanetto, Steven R.
AU - Cirasuolo, Michele
AU - Wild, V.
AU - Targett, T.
PY - 2013/11
Y1 - 2013/11
N2 - We present the 2012 Hubble Ultra Deep Field campaign (UDF12), a large
128 orbit Cycle 19 Hubble Space Telescope program aimed at extending
previous Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3)/IR observations of the UDF by
quadrupling the exposure time in the F105W filter, imaging in an
additional F140W filter, and extending the F160W exposure time by 50%,
as well as adding an extremely deep parallel field with the Advanced
Camera for Surveys (ACS) in the F814W filter with a total exposure time
of 128 orbits. The principal scientific goal of this project is to
determine whether galaxies reionized the universe; our observations are
designed to provide a robust determination of the star formation density
at z >~ 8, improve measurements of the ultraviolet continuum slope at
z ~ 7-8, facilitate the construction of new samples of z ~ 9-10
candidates, and enable the detection of sources up to z ~ 12. For this
project we committed to combining these and other WFC3/IR imaging
observations of the UDF area into a single homogeneous dataset to
provide the deepest near-infrared observations of the sky. In this paper
we present the observational overview of the project and describe the
procedures used in reducing the data as well as the final products that
were produced. We present the details of several special procedures that
we implemented to correct calibration issues in the data for both the
WFC3/IR observations of the main UDF field and our deep 128 orbit
ACS/WFC F814W parallel field image, including treatment for persistence,
correction for time-variable sky backgrounds, and astrometric alignment
to an accuracy of a few milliarcseconds. We release the full, combined
mosaics comprising a single, unified set of mosaics of the UDF,
providing the deepest near-infrared blank-field view of the universe
currently achievable, reaching magnitudes as deep as AB ~ 30 mag in the
near-infrared, and yielding a legacy dataset on this field.
AB - We present the 2012 Hubble Ultra Deep Field campaign (UDF12), a large
128 orbit Cycle 19 Hubble Space Telescope program aimed at extending
previous Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3)/IR observations of the UDF by
quadrupling the exposure time in the F105W filter, imaging in an
additional F140W filter, and extending the F160W exposure time by 50%,
as well as adding an extremely deep parallel field with the Advanced
Camera for Surveys (ACS) in the F814W filter with a total exposure time
of 128 orbits. The principal scientific goal of this project is to
determine whether galaxies reionized the universe; our observations are
designed to provide a robust determination of the star formation density
at z >~ 8, improve measurements of the ultraviolet continuum slope at
z ~ 7-8, facilitate the construction of new samples of z ~ 9-10
candidates, and enable the detection of sources up to z ~ 12. For this
project we committed to combining these and other WFC3/IR imaging
observations of the UDF area into a single homogeneous dataset to
provide the deepest near-infrared observations of the sky. In this paper
we present the observational overview of the project and describe the
procedures used in reducing the data as well as the final products that
were produced. We present the details of several special procedures that
we implemented to correct calibration issues in the data for both the
WFC3/IR observations of the main UDF field and our deep 128 orbit
ACS/WFC F814W parallel field image, including treatment for persistence,
correction for time-variable sky backgrounds, and astrometric alignment
to an accuracy of a few milliarcseconds. We release the full, combined
mosaics comprising a single, unified set of mosaics of the UDF,
providing the deepest near-infrared blank-field view of the universe
currently achievable, reaching magnitudes as deep as AB ~ 30 mag in the
near-infrared, and yielding a legacy dataset on this field.
KW - cosmology: observations
KW - galaxies: high-redshift
UR - http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013ApJS..209....3K
U2 - 10.1088/0067-0049/209/1/3
DO - 10.1088/0067-0049/209/1/3
M3 - Article
SN - 0067-0049
VL - 209
JO - Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
JF - Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
IS - 1
M1 - 3
ER -