HST Frontier Fields - Observations of MACSJ1149.5+2223
Abstract
Using Director's Discretionary {DD} observing time, HST will undertake a revolutionarydeep field observing program to peer deeper into the Universe than ever before and providea first glimpse of JWST's universe. These Frontier Fields will combine the power of HST with thenatural gravitational telescopes of high-magnification clusters of galaxies to produce the second-deepest observations of blank fields and the deepest observations of clusters and their lensed galaxies ever obtained. The primary science goals of the HST FF are {1} to reveal z 5-10 galaxy populations 10-50 times intrinsically fainter than any presently known; {2} to solidify our understanding of the stellar masses and star-formation histories of galaxies at the earliest times; {3} provide the first statistically meaningful morphological characterization of z>5 galaxies; and {4} to find z>8 galaxies magnified sufficiently for spectroscopic followup and internal structure studies. Six strong-lensing clusters - Abell 2744, MACSJ0416.1-2403, MACSJ0717.5+3745, MACSJ1149.5+22, RXCJ2248.7-4431, and Abell 370 - will be targeted with coordinated parallels of adjacent blank fields with ACS/WFC and WFC3/IR cameras. Observations for the first four cluster/blank field pairs will be obtained in HST Cycles 21 and 22, with two additional pairs to follow in Cycle 23 pending results of the initial observations. HST imaging will reach 5sigma depths of 28.7' 29th AB magnitude for a point source in ACS F435W, F606W, F814W, WFC3/IR F105W, F125W, F140W, F160W at 140 total orbitsper field. All data for this observing program will be nonproprietary and available immediatelyupon entry into the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes. STScI will release fully calibrated high-level science products ready for scientific analysis by the astronomical community shortly after the raw data are obtained
- Publication:
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HST Proposal
- Pub Date:
- October 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013hst..prop13504L