NGVCS

Key Information

 * Large Programme for the Canada French Hawaii Telescope (CFHT). The NGVS will use 771 hours of CFHT time (approx. 140 nights)


 * Optical survey of the Virgo Cluster in 5 bands (u*,g',r',I',z')


 * Covers 104 deg^2, from the center of Virgo to the virial radius.


 * Uses the MegaPrime camera on the CFHT


 * Depth (Points Sources, S/N=10)
 * u*=25.9 AB mag
 * g'=25.7 AB mag
 * r'=25.2 AB mag
 * i'=24.9 AB mag
 * z'=24.6 AB mag


 * Depth (Surface Brightness, 2Σ)
 * u*=27.3 AB mag arcsec-2
 * g'=27.7 AB mag arcsec-2
 * r'=27.2 AB mag arcsec-2
 * i'=26.3 AB mag arcsec-2
 * z'=25.8 AB mag arcsec-2


 * Exposure Times (PER SQUARE DEGREE FIELD)
 * u*=6400 s
 * g'=3200 s
 * r'=4800 s
 * i'=2050 s
 * z'=4400 s


 * Seeing
 * 0.6 arcsec (i')
 * 1.0 arcsec (u*,g',r',z')


 * For field of view, see Here


 * Scientific Goals:
 * In Virgo Cluster
 * The faint-end shape of the luminosity function
 * The characterization of galaxy scaling relations over a factor $$10^7$$ in mass
 * The study of stellar nuclei and their connection to supermassive black holes
 * The connection between cluster, galaxies and the intracluster medium
 * The fossil record of star formation and chemical enrichment in dense environments.
 * Foreground Science
 * By combining the NGVS data with other surveys of the Galactic halo, it will be possible to compare the line-of-sight distribution of stars along different halo sightlines with Galactic halo models, and to measure directly the shape and symmetry of the stellar halo.
 * Background Science
 * Discover ≈2000 galaxy clusters at redshifts between 0.1 and 1.0, and enable weak lensing measurements out to z ≈ 0.5.
 * Discover up to 300 strong lensing structures, spanning the full range from massive galaxies to rich clusters.
 * Enable a high-quality measurements of the matter power spectrum on scales beyond 8° through cosmic shear studies.


 * For synergistic opportunities, see Here

Documents

 * The NGVS Webpage Documentation
 * NGVS MegaPipe Documentation
 * MegaPipe Stacking Procedure
 * About the PSF
 * About the Background Subtraction
 * About the effective gain and read noise
 * NGVS Graphical Search Tool
 * The NGVS Image Cutout Service


 * Part of the NGVS Images can be accessed through the MegaPipe Stacking Image Search


 * Also, some of the images can be obtained through the CADC advanced query service

Follow-up Programs

 * The NGVS Pilot Project: a Deep MegaPrime Survey of the Virgo Cluster Core (CFHT/MegaPrime. PI L.Ferrarese and S. Mei).
 * A Deep Spectroscopic Survey of the Virgo Core (MMT/Hectospec. PI E. Peng).
 * The NGVS IR Followup: Deep K-band observations of the Virgo Cluster Core (CFHT/WIRCam, PI T. Puzia and A. Lancon).