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Published December 2013 | Submitted + Published
Journal Article Open

UVUDF: Ultraviolet Imaging of the Hubble Ultradeep Field with Wide-field Camera 3

Abstract

We present an overview of a 90 orbit Hubble Space Telescope treasury program to obtain near-ultraviolet imaging of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field using the Wide Field Camera 3 UVIS detector with the F225W, F275W, and F336W filters. This survey is designed to: (1) investigate the episode of peak star formation activity in galaxies at 1 < z < 2.5; (2) probe the evolution of massive galaxies by resolving sub-galactic units (clumps); (3) examine the escape fraction of ionizing radiation from galaxies at z ~ 2-3; (4) greatly improve the reliability of photometric redshift estimates; and (5) measure the star formation rate efficiency of neutral atomic-dominated hydrogen gas at z ~ 1-3. In this overview paper, we describe the survey details and data reduction challenges, including both the necessity of specialized calibrations and the effects of charge transfer inefficiency. We provide a stark demonstration of the effects of charge transfer inefficiency on resultant data products, which when uncorrected, result in uncertain photometry, elongation of morphology in the readout direction, and loss of faint sources far from the readout. We agree with the STScI recommendation that future UVIS observations that require very sensitive measurements use the instrument's capability to add background light through a "post-flash." Preliminary results on number counts of UV-selected galaxies and morphology of galaxies at z ~ 1 are presented. We find that the number density of UV dropouts at redshifts 1.7, 2.1, and 2.7 is largely consistent with the number predicted by published luminosity functions. We also confirm that the image mosaics have sufficient sensitivity and resolution to support the analysis of the evolution of star-forming clumps, reaching 28-29th magnitude depth at 5σ in a 0."2 radius aperture depending on filter and observing epoch.

Additional Information

© 2013 American Astronomical Society. Received 2013 May 6; accepted 2013 October 15; published 2013 November 11. Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. These observations are #12534. We would like to thank the WFC3 team at the Space Telescope Science Institute for their help with solving new calibration and CTE challenges in the binned data. We also thank our Program Coordinator, Anthony Roman, and our Contact Scientist, John Mackenty. Support for HST Program GO-12534 was provided by NASA through grants from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555. Facility: HST (ACS/WF3, WFC3/UVIS)

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Published - 1538-3881_146_6_159.pdf

Submitted - 1305.1357v1.pdf

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Additional details

Created:
August 22, 2023
Modified:
October 23, 2023