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JWST PEARLS. Prime Extragalactic Areas for Reionization and Lensing Science: Project Overview and First Results

Windhorst, Rogier A.; Cohen, Seth H.; Jansen, Rolf A.; Summers, Jake; Tompkins, Scott; Conselice, Christopher J.; Driver, Simon P.; Yan, Haojing; Coe, Dan; Frye, Brenda; Grogin, Norman; Koekemoer, Anton; Marshall, Madeline A.; O’Brien, Rosalia; Pirzkal, Nor; Robotham, Aaron; Ryan, Russell E.; Willmer, Christopher N.A.; Carleton, Timothy; Diego, Jose M.; Keel, William C.; Porto, Paolo; Redshaw, Caleb; Scheller, Sydney; Wilkins, Stephen M.; Willner, S.P.; Zitrin, Adi; Adams, Nathan J.; Austin, Duncan; Arendt, Richard G.; Beacom, John F.; Bhatawdekar, Rachana A.; Bradley, Larry D.; Broadhurst, Tom; Cheng, Cheng; Civano, Francesca; Dai, Liang; Dole, Hervé; D’Silva, Jordan C.J.; Duncan, Kenneth J.; Fazio, Giovanni G.; Ferrami, Giovanni; Ferreira, Leonardo; Finkelstein, Steven L.; Furtak, Lukas J.; Gim, Hansung B.; Griffiths, Alex; Hammel, Heidi B.; Harrington, Kevin C.; Hathi, Nimish P.; Holwerda, Benne W.; Honor, Rachel; Huang, Jia-Sheng; Hyun, Minhee; Im, Myungshin; Joshi, Bhavin A.; Kami...

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Authors

Rogier A. Windhorst

Seth H. Cohen

Rolf A. Jansen

Jake Summers

Scott Tompkins

Christopher J. Conselice

Simon P. Driver

Haojing Yan

Dan Coe

Brenda Frye

Norman Grogin

Anton Koekemoer

Madeline A. Marshall

Rosalia O’Brien

Nor Pirzkal

Aaron Robotham

Russell E. Ryan

Christopher N.A. Willmer

Timothy Carleton

Jose M. Diego

William C. Keel

Paolo Porto

Caleb Redshaw

Sydney Scheller

Stephen M. Wilkins

S.P. Willner

Adi Zitrin

Nathan J. Adams

Duncan Austin

Richard G. Arendt

John F. Beacom

Rachana A. Bhatawdekar

Larry D. Bradley

Tom Broadhurst

Cheng Cheng

Francesca Civano

Liang Dai

Hervé Dole

Jordan C.J. D’Silva

Kenneth J. Duncan

Giovanni G. Fazio

Giovanni Ferrami

Leonardo Ferreira

Steven L. Finkelstein

Lukas J. Furtak

Hansung B. Gim

Alex Griffiths

Heidi B. Hammel

Kevin C. Harrington

Nimish P. Hathi

Benne W. Holwerda

Rachel Honor

Jia-Sheng Huang

Minhee Hyun

Myungshin Im

Bhavin A. Joshi

Patrick S. Kamieneski

Patrick Kelly

Rebecca L. Larson

Juno Li

Jeremy Lim

Zhiyuan Ma

Peter Maksym

Giorgio Manzoni

Ashish Kumar Meena

Stefanie N. Milam

Mario Nonino

Massimo Pascale

Andreea Petric

Justin D.R. Pierel

Maria del Carmen Polletta

Huub J.A. Röttgering

Michael J. Rutkowski

Amber N. Straughn

Louis-Gregory Strolger

Andi Swirbul

James A.A. Trussler

Lifan Wang

Brian Welch

J. Stuart B. Wyithe

Min Yun

Erik Zackrisson

Jiashuo Zhang

Xiurui Zhao



Abstract

We give an overview and describe the rationale, methods, and first results from NIRCam images of the JWST “Prime Extragalactic Areas for Reionization and Lensing Science” (PEARLS) project. PEARLS uses up to eight NIRCam filters to survey several prime extragalactic survey areas: two fields at the North Ecliptic Pole (NEP); seven gravitationally lensing clusters; two high redshift protoclusters; and the iconic backlit VV 191 galaxy system to map its dust attenuation. PEARLS also includes NIRISS spectra for one of the NEP fields and NIRSpec spectra of two high-redshift quasars. The main goal of PEARLS is to study the epoch of galaxy assembly, active galactic nucleus (AGN) growth, and First Light. Five fields—the JWST NEP Time-Domain Field (TDF), IRAC Dark Field, and three lensing clusters—will be observed in up to four epochs over a year. The cadence and sensitivity of the imaging data are ideally suited to find faint variable objects such as weak AGN, high-redshift supernovae, and cluster caustic transits. Both NEP fields have sightlines through our Galaxy, providing significant numbers of very faint brown dwarfs whose proper motions can be studied. Observations from the first spoke in the NEP TDF are public. This paper presents our first PEARLS observations, their NIRCam data reduction and analysis, our first object catalogs, the 0.9–4.5 μm galaxy counts and Integrated Galaxy Light. We assess the JWST sky brightness in 13 NIRCam filters, yielding our first constraints to diffuse light at 0.9–4.5 μm. PEARLS is designed to be of lasting benefit to the community.

Citation

Windhorst, R. A., Cohen, S. H., Jansen, R. A., Summers, J., Tompkins, S., Conselice, C. J., …Zhao, X. (2023). JWST PEARLS. Prime Extragalactic Areas for Reionization and Lensing Science: Project Overview and First Results. Astronomical Journal, 165(1), Article 13. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aca163

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Nov 6, 2022
Online Publication Date Dec 14, 2022
Publication Date Jan 1, 2023
Deposit Date Jan 25, 2023
Publicly Available Date Jan 25, 2023
Journal The Astronomical Journal
Print ISSN 0004-6256
Electronic ISSN 1538-3881
Publisher IOP Publishing
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 165
Issue 1
Article Number 13
DOI https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aca163

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