CANDELS: THE COSMIC ASSEMBLY NEAR-INFRARED DEEP EXTRAGALACTIC LEGACY SURVEY-THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS, IMAGING DATA PRODUCTS, AND MOSAICS Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • This paper describes the Hubble Space Telescope imaging data products and data reduction procedures for the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS). This survey is designed to document the evolution of galaxies and black holes at z 1.5-8, and to study Type Ia supernovae at z > 1.5. Five premier multi-wavelength sky regions are selected, each with extensive multi-wavelength observations. The primary CANDELS data consist of imaging obtained in the Wide Field Camera 3 infrared channel (WFC3/IR) and the WFC3 ultraviolet/optical channel, along with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). The CANDELS/Deep survey covers 125 arcmin 2 within GOODS-N and GOODS-S, while the remainder consists of the CANDELS/Wide survey, achieving a total of 800 arcmin2 across GOODS and three additional fields (Extended Groth Strip, COSMOS, and Ultra-Deep Survey). We summarize the observational aspects of the survey as motivated by the scientific goals and present a detailed description of the data reduction procedures and products from the survey. Our data reduction methods utilize the most up-to-date calibration files and image combination procedures. We have paid special attention to correcting a range of instrumental effects, including charge transfer efficiency degradation for ACS, removal of electronic bias-striping present in ACS data after Servicing Mission 4, and persistence effects and other artifacts in WFC3/IR. For each field, we release mosaics for individual epochs and eventual mosaics containing data from all epochs combined, to facilitate photometric variability studies and the deepest possible photometry. A more detailed overview of the science goals and observational design of the survey are presented in a companion paper. 2011. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..

published proceedings

  • ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL SUPPLEMENT SERIES

altmetric score

  • 12.5

author list (cited authors)

  • Koekemoer, A. M., Faber, S. M., Ferguson, H. C., Grogin, N. A., Kocevski, D. D., Koo, D. C., ... Yun, M. S.

citation count

  • 1703

complete list of authors

  • Koekemoer, Anton M||Faber, SM||Ferguson, Henry C||Grogin, Norman A||Kocevski, Dale D||Koo, David C||Lai, Kamson||Lotz, Jennifer M||Lucas, Ray A||McGrath, Elizabeth J||Ogaz, Sara||Rajan, Abhijith||Riess, Adam G||Rodney, Steve A||Strolger, Louis||Casertano, Stefano||Castellano, Marco||Dahlen, Tomas||Dickinson, Mark||Dolch, Timothy||Fontana, Adriano||Giavalisco, Mauro||Grazian, Andrea||Guo, Yicheng||Hathi, Nimish P||Huang, Kuang-Han||van der Wel, Arjen||Yan, Hao-Jing||Acquaviva, Viviana||Alexander, David M||Almaini, Omar||Ashby, Matthew LN||Barden, Marco||Bell, Eric F||Bournaud, Frederic||Brown, Thomas M||Caputi, Karina I||Cassata, Paolo||Challis, Peter J||Chary, Ranga-Ram||Cheung, Edmond||Cirasuolo, Michele||Conselice, Christopher J||Cooray, Asantha Roshan||Croton, Darren J||Daddi, Emanuele||Dave, Romeel||de Mello, Duilia F||de Ravel, Loic||Dekel, Avishai||Donley, Jennifer L||Dunlop, James S||Dutton, Aaron A||Elbaz, David||Fazio, Giovanni G||Filippenko, Alexei V||Finkelstein, Steven L||Frazer, Chris||Gardner, Jonathan P||Garnavich, Peter M||Gawiser, Eric||Gruetzbauch, Ruth||Hartley, Will G||Haeussler, Boris||Herrington, Jessica||Hopkins, Philip F||Huang, Jia-Sheng||Jha, Saurabh W||Johnson, Andrew||Kartaltepe, Jeyhan S||Khostovan, Ali A||Kirshner, Robert P||Lani, Caterina||Lee, Kyoung-Soo||Li, Weidong||Madau, Piero||McCarthy, Patrick J||McIntosh, Daniel H||McLure, Ross J||McPartland, Conor||Mobasher, Bahram||Moreira, Heidi||Mortlock, Alice||Moustakas, Leonidas A||Mozena, Mark||Nandra, Kirpal||Newman, Jeffrey A||Nielsen, Jennifer L||Niemi, Sami||Noeske, Kai G||Papovich, Casey J||Pentericci, Laura||Pope, Alexandra||Primack, Joel R||Ravindranath, Swara||Reddy, Naveen A||Renzini, Alvio||Rix, Hans-Walter||Robaina, Aday R||Rosario, David J||Rosati, Piero||Salimbeni, Sara||Scarlata, Claudia||Siana, Brian||Simard, Luc||Smidt, Joseph||Snyder, Diana||Somerville, Rachel S||Spinrad, Hyron||Straughn, Amber N||Telford, Olivia||Teplitz, Harry I||Trump, Jonathan R||Vargas, Carlos||Villforth, Carolin||Wagner, Cory R||Wandro, Pat||Wechsler, Risa H||Weiner, Benjamin J||Wiklind, Tommy||Wild, Vivienne||Wilson, Grant||Wuyts, Stijn||Yun, Min S

publication date

  • December 2011