The Taipan Galaxy Survey: Scientific Goals and Observing Strategy

da Cunha, Elisabete; Hopkins, Andrew M.; Colless, Matthew; Taylor, Edward N.; Blake, Chris; Howlett, Cullan; Magoulas, Christina; Lucey, John R.; Lagos, Claudia; Kuehn, Kyler; Gordon, Yjan; Barat, Dilyar; Bian, Fuyan; Wolf, Christian; Cowley, Michael J.; White, Marc; Achitouv, Ixandra; Bilicki, Maciej; Bland-Hawthorn, Joss; Bolejko, Krzysztof; Brown, Michael J.I.; Brown, Rebecca; Bryant, Julia; Croom, Scott; Davis, Tamara M.; Driver, Simon P.; Filipovic, Miroslav D.; Hinton, Samuel R.; Johnston-Hollitt, Melanie; Jones, D. Heath; Koribalski, Bärbel; Kleiner, Dane; Lawrence, Jon; Lorente, Nuria; Mould, Jeremy; Owers, Matt S.; Pimbblet, Kevin; Tinney, C.G.; Tothill, Nicholas F.H.; Watson, Fred

doi:10.1017/pasa.2017.41

The Taipan Galaxy Survey: Scientific Goals and Observing Strategy

da Cunha, Elisabete; Hopkins, Andrew M.; Colless, Matthew; Taylor, Edward N.; Blake, Chris; Howlett, Cullan; Magoulas, Christina; Lucey, John R.; Lagos, Claudia; Kuehn, Kyler; Gordon, Yjan; Barat, Dilyar; Bian, Fuyan; Wolf, Christian; Cowley, Michael J.; White, Marc; Achitouv, Ixandra; Bilicki, Maciej; Bland-Hawthorn, Joss; Bolejko, Krzysztof; Brown, Michael J.I.; Brown, Rebecca; Bryant, Julia; Croom, Scott; Davis, Tamara M.; Driver, Simon P.; Filipovic, Miroslav D.; Hinton, Samuel R.; Johnston-Hollitt, Melanie; Jones, D. Heath; Koribalski, Bärbel; Kleiner, Dane; Lawrence, Jon; Lorente, Nuria; Mould, Jeremy; Owers, Matt S.; Pimbblet, Kevin; Tinney, C.G.; Tothill, Nicholas F.H.; Watson, Fred

Authors

Elisabete da Cunha

Andrew M. Hopkins

Matthew Colless

Edward N. Taylor

Chris Blake

Cullan Howlett

Christina Magoulas

Dr John Lucey john.lucey@durham.ac.uk
Emeritus Professor

Claudia Lagos

Kyler Kuehn

Yjan Gordon

Dilyar Barat

Fuyan Bian

Christian Wolf

Michael J. Cowley

Marc White

Ixandra Achitouv

Maciej Bilicki

Joss Bland-Hawthorn

Krzysztof Bolejko

Michael J.I. Brown

Rebecca Brown

Julia Bryant

Scott Croom

Tamara M. Davis

Simon P. Driver

Miroslav D. Filipovic

Samuel R. Hinton

Melanie Johnston-Hollitt

D. Heath Jones

Bärbel Koribalski

Dane Kleiner

Jon Lawrence

Nuria Lorente

Jeremy Mould

Matt S. Owers

Kevin Pimbblet

C.G. Tinney

Nicholas F.H. Tothill

Fred Watson

Abstract

The Taipan galaxy survey (hereafter simply ‘Taipan’) is a multi-object spectroscopic survey starting in 2017 that will cover 2π steradians over the southern sky (δ ≲ 10°, |b| ≳ 10°), and obtain optical spectra for about two million galaxies out to z < 0.4. Taipan will use the newly refurbished 1.2-m UK Schmidt Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory with the new TAIPAN instrument, which includes an innovative ‘Starbugs’ positioning system capable of rapidly and simultaneously deploying up to 150 spectroscopic fibres (and up to 300 with a proposed upgrade) over the 6° diameter focal plane, and a purpose-built spectrograph operating in the range from 370 to 870 nm with resolving power R ≳ 2000. The main scientific goals of Taipan are (i) to measure the distance scale of the Universe (primarily governed by the local expansion rate, H 0) to 1% precision, and the growth rate of structure to 5%; (ii) to make the most extensive map yet constructed of the total mass distribution and motions in the local Universe, using peculiar velocities based on improved Fundamental Plane distances, which will enable sensitive tests of gravitational physics; and (iii) to deliver a legacy sample of low-redshift galaxies as a unique laboratory for studying galaxy evolution as a function of dark matter halo and stellar mass and environment. The final survey, which will be completed within 5 yrs, will consist of a complete magnitude-limited sample (i ⩽ 17) of about 1.2 × 106 galaxies supplemented by an extension to higher redshifts and fainter magnitudes (i ⩽ 18.1) of a luminous red galaxy sample of about 0.8 × 106 galaxies. Observations and data processing will be carried out remotely and in a fully automated way, using a purpose-built automated ‘virtual observer’ software and an automated data reduction pipeline. The Taipan survey is deliberately designed to maximise its legacy value by complementing and enhancing current and planned surveys of the southern sky at wavelengths from the optical to the radio; it will become the primary redshift and optical spectroscopic reference catalogue for the local extragalactic Universe in the southern sky for the coming decade.

Citation

da Cunha, E., Hopkins, A. M., Colless, M., Taylor, E. N., Blake, C., Howlett, C., …Watson, F. (2017). The Taipan Galaxy Survey: Scientific Goals and Observing Strategy. Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 34, Article e047. https://doi.org/10.1017/pasa.2017.41

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Sep 4, 2017
Online Publication Date	Oct 24, 2017
Publication Date	Oct 24, 2017
Deposit Date	Apr 3, 2018
Publicly Available Date	Apr 24, 2018
Journal	Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia
Print ISSN	1323-3580
Electronic ISSN	1448-6083
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	34
Article Number	e047
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1017/pasa.2017.41
Related Public URLs	https://arxiv.org/abs/1706.01246

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Copyright Statement
This article has been published in a revised form in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia https://doi.org/10.1017/pasa.2017.41. This version is free to view and download for private research and study only. Not for re-distribution, re-sale or use in derivative works. © Astronomical Society of Australia 2017.