Galaxy Evolution and Supernovae from a Deep-Wide WFC3 Survey WFC3 IR observations of 5 well-studied reference fields at high galactic latitude: The GOODS fields Encompass the deepest fields from HST, Spitzer, Chandra, the VLA, and soon Herschel The Extended Groth Strip A small portion of the COSMOS field The UKIRT Ultradeep Survey Field Optimized for studies of galaxy evolution at z~2-10 Optimized for supernova cosmology Theories crumble, but good observations never fade.— Harlow Shapley

Merger of two similar proposals Sandy Faber’s team proposed a ‘wedding cake’ strategy with 2-orbit depth in the three non-GOODS fields, and 50% of GOODS to 15-orbit depth. Our team proposed to cover both GOODS fields to intermediate depth and to measure supernovae spectra and light curves. We also proposed UV observations for GOODS-N. The TAC liked the wedding cake, the supernova followup and the UV observations. Teams were merged and told to try to preserve these features.

90 Co-investigators

Supernova Cosmology Refine the only constraints we have on the time variation of w, on a path to more than doubling the strength of this crucial test of a cosmological constant by the end of HST’s life.

Supernova Cosmology Obtain a direct, explosion-model-independent measure of the evolution of Type Ia supernovae as distance indicators at z > 1.5, independent of dark energy.

Supernova Cosmology Provide the first measurement of the SN Ia rate at z>1.5 to distinguish between prompt and delayed SN Ia production and their corresponding progenitor models.

Supernova Cosmology Refine the only constraints we have on the time variation of w, on a path to more than doubling the strength of this crucial test of a cosmological constant by the end of HST’s life.

Supernova Cosmology

Cosmic Dawn Greatly improve the estimates of the evolution of stellar mass, dust and metallicity at z = 4-8 by combining WFC3 data with very deep Spitzer observations.

Cosmic Dawn Improve by ~10x the constraints on the bright end of the luminosity function at z~7 and 8, and make z~6 measurements robust using proper 2-color Lyman break selection.

Cosmic Dawn Measure fluctuations in the near-IR background light, at sensitivities sufficiently faint and angular scales sufficiently large to constrain re-ionization models. Extragalatic background: Integrated galaxy counts below previous detection limits form a lower EBL bound Gamma-Ray bursts (e.g Aharonian et al. 2005) form upper bound Direct detections are difficult due to the EBL’s faint intensity Detections currently conflict Bock et al. 2006

WFC3 Fluctuation Measurements The large angle (θ ~ 1/30 °) peak (green curve) is a linear-theory prediction of clustering of reionization sources. Small scale power is sensitive to the slope and normalization of the luminosity function. large area surveys with WFC3 can (barely) reach large angle peak Reionization Simulation from Trac and Cen 2007 Large θ   Small θ 12

Cosmic high-noon Test models for the co-evolution of black holes and bulges via the most detailed census of interacting pairs, mergers, AGN, and bulges, aided by the most complete and unbiased census of AGN from Herschel, improved Chandra observations, and optical variability.

Cosmic high-noon Detect individual galaxy subclumps and measure their stellar mass, constraining the timescale for their dynamical-friction migration to the center leading to bulge formation. Reveal the presence of fully formed passively evolving bulges out to z > 3, measure the bulge/disk ratio, and provide constraints on the relative ages of the bulge and disk populations. Measure the rest-frame optical morphologies of passive galaxies up to z~2 and beyond, and combine with ACS data to quantify UV-optical color (age) gradients.

Cosmic variance

Observing strategy Wide fields: GOODS Deep: UV (GOODS-N): ~750 sq. arcmin 2/3 orbits J (debating F125W vs. F110W) 4/3 orbits H (F160W) Half the GOODS area covered this way GOODS Deep: ~130 sq. arcmin 12 orbit depth 4+4+4 in F105W+F125W+F160W At least 12 orbits new ACS F814W UV (GOODS-N): ~70 sq. arcmin Primary science is Lyman-escape fractions at z~2.5 3:1 ratio in F275W:F336W; leaning toward binning 2x2

Technical Issues We need to reprocess and stack all the existing ACS data on these fields (for high-z galaxies): With better geometric distortion corrections and astrometry than the original GOODS stacks With CTE corrections (Anderson algorithm?) Need alignment to WFC3 to within 0.1 pixel Correcting crosstalk for the EBL fluctuations project We are looking closely at image subtraction and galaxy morphology versus number & size of dithers We need to worry about scattered earthshine for the CVZ orbits Persistence, blobs, etc. will be a challenge for the EBL fluctuations measurement.