The miniJPAS survey: A preview of the Universe in 56 colors
S. Bonoli, A. Marín-Franch, J. Varela, H. Vázquez Ramió, L. R. Abramo, A. J. Cenarro, R. A. Dupke, J. M. Vílchez, D. Cristóbal-Hornillos, R. M. González Delgado, C. Hernández-Monteagudo, C. López-Sanjuan, D. J. Muniesa, T. Civera, A. Ederoclite, A. Hernán-Caballero, V. Marra, P. O. Baqui, A. Cortesi, E. S. Cypriano, S. Daflon, A. L. de Amorim, L. A. Díaz-García, J. M. Diego, G. Martínez-Solaeche, E. Pérez, V. M. Placco, F. Prada, C. Queiroz, J. Alcaniz, A. Alvarez-Candal, J. Cepa, A. L. Maroto, F. Roig, B. B. Siffert, K. Taylor, N. Benitez, M. Moles, L. Sodré, S. Carneiro, C. Mendes de Oliveira, E. Abdalla, R. E. Angulo, M. Aparicio Resco, A. Balaguera-Antolínez, F. J. Ballesteros, D. Brito-Silva, T. Broadhurst, E. R. Carrasco, T. Castro, R. Cid Fernandes, P. Coelho, R. B. de Melo, L. Doubrawa, A. Fernandez-Soto, F. Ferrari, A. Finoguenov, R. García-Benito, J. Iglesias-Páramo, Y. Jiménez-Teja, F. S. Kitaura, J. Laur, P. A. A. Lopes, G. Lucatelli, V. J. Martínez, M. Maturi, R. A. Overzier, C. Pigozzo, M. Quartin, J. E. Rodríguez-Martín, V. Salzano, A. Tamm, E. Tempel, K. Umetsu, L. Valdivielso, R. von Marttens, A. Zitrin, M. C. Díaz-Martín, G. López-Alegre, A. López-Sainz, A. Yanes-Díaz, F. Rueda-Teruel, S. Rueda-Teruel, J. Abril Ibañez, J. L Antón Bravo, R. Bello Ferrer, S. Bielsa, J. M. Casino, J. Castillo, S. Chueca, L. Cuesta, J. Garzarán Calderaro, R. Iglesias-Marzoa, C. Íniguez, J. L. Lamadrid Gutierrez, F. Lopez-Martinez, D. Lozano-Pérez, N. Maícas Sacristán, E. L. Molina-Ibáñez, A. Moreno-Signes
Abstract
The Javalambre-Physics of the Accelerating Universe Astrophysical Survey (J-PAS) will scan thousands of square degrees of the northern sky with a unique set of 56 filters using the dedicated 2.55 m Javalambre Survey Telescope (JST) at the Javalambre Astrophysical Observatory. Prior to the installation of the main camera (4.2 deg 2 field-of-view with 1.2 Gpixels), the JST was equipped with the JPAS-Pathfinder, a one CCD camera with a 0.3 deg 2 field-of-view and plate scale of 0.23 arcsec pixel −1 . To demonstrate the scientific potential of J-PAS, the JPAS-Pathfinder camera was used to perform miniJPAS, a ∼1 deg 2 survey of the AEGIS field (along the Extended Groth Strip). The field was observed with the 56 J-PAS filters, which include 54 narrow band ( FWHM ∼ 145 Å) and two broader filters extending to the UV and the near-infrared, complemented by the u , g , r , i SDSS broad band filters. In this miniJPAS survey overview paper, we present the miniJPAS data set (images and catalogs), as we highlight key aspects and applications of these unique spectro-photometric data and describe how to access the public data products. The data parameters reach depths of mag AB ≃ 22−23.5 in the 54 narrow band filters and up to 24 in the broader filters (5 σ in a 3″ aperture). The miniJPAS primary catalog contains more than 64 000 sources detected in the r band and with matched photometry in all other bands. This catalog is 99% complete at r = 23.6 ( r = 22.7) mag for point-like (extended) sources. We show that our photometric redshifts have an accuracy better than 1% for all sources up to r = 22.5, and a precision of ≤0.3% for a subset consisting of about half of the sample. On this basis, we outline several scientific applications of our data, including the study of spatially-resolved stellar populations of nearby galaxies, the analysis of the large scale structure up to z ∼ 0.9, and the detection of large numbers of clusters and groups. Sub-percent redshift precision can also be reached for quasars, allowing for the study of the large-scale structure to be pushed to z > 2. The miniJPAS survey demonstrates the capability of the J-PAS filter system to accurately characterize a broad variety of sources and paves the way for the upcoming arrival of J-PAS, which will multiply this data by three orders of magnitude.