COSMOS: Hubble Space Telescope Observations
Kneib, J. -P.; Aussel, H.; Daddi, E.; Sanders, D. B.; Taniguchi, Y.; Giavalisco, M.; White, S. D. M.; Franceschini, A.; Comastri, A.; Hasinger, G.; Capak, P.; Calzetti, D.; Koda, J.; Schinnerer, E.; Yan, L.; Carollo, C. M.; Elvis, M.; Lilly, S.; Liu, C. T.; McCracken, H. J.; Scoville, N.; Abraham, R. G.; Carlstrom, J. E.; Koekemoer, A.; Impey, C.; Mobasher, B.; Ewald, S. P.; Massey, R.; Rhodes, J.; Griffiths, R. E.; Norman, C.; Urry, C. M.; Blain, A. W.; Scodeggio, M.; Schiminovich, D.; Colbert, J.; Renzini, A.; Mould, J.; Shopbell, P. L.; Ellis, R. S.; Mellier, Y.; Refregier, A.; Carilli, C.; Sheth, K.; Lefevre, O.; Van Waerbeke, L.; Barnes, J. E.; Rich, M.; Miyazaki, S.; Guzzo, L.; Tyson, N. D.; Vettolani, P.; Benson, A.; Fall, M.; Green, W.
United States, Canada, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Japan
Abstract
The Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) was initiated with an extensive allocation (590 orbits in Cycles 12-13) using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) for high-resolution imaging. Here we review the characteristics of the HST imaging with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and parallel observations with NICMOS and WFPC2. A square field (1.8 deg2) has been imaged with single-orbit ACS I-band F814W exposures with 50% completeness for sources 0.5" in diameter at IAB=26.0 mag. The ACS is a key part of the COSMOS survey, providing very high sensitivity and high-resolution (0.09" FWHM and 0.05" pixels) imaging and detecting a million objects. These images yield resolved morphologies for several hundred thousand galaxies. The small HST PSF also provides greatly enhanced sensitivity for weak-lensing investigations of the dark matter distribution.
Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555.