2018/11/30 by R. J. Foley, Anton M. Koekemoer, Foley, R. J. +117
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomical Observations and Instrumentation #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) #FOS: Physical sciences #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1812.00514
openalex publication_date 2018/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) is expected to launch in\nthe mid-2020s. With its wide-field near-infrared (NIR) camera, it will survey\nthe sky to unprecedented detail. As part of normal operations and as the result\nof multiple expected dedicated surveys, WFIRST will produce several relatively\nwide-field (tens of square degrees) deep (limiting magnitude of 28 or fainter)\nfields. In particular, a planned supernova survey is expected to image 3 deep\nfields in the LSST footprint roughly every 5 days over 2 years. Stacking all\ndata, this survey will produce, over all WFIRST supernova fields in the LSST\nfootprint, ~12-25 deg2 and ~5-15 deg2 regions to depths of ~28 mag and ~29\nmag, respectively. We suggest LSST undertake mini-surveys that will match the\nWFIRST cadence and simultaneously observe the supernova survey fields during\nthe 2-year WFIRST supernova survey, achieving a stacked depth similar to that\nof the WFIRST data. We also suggest additional observations of these same\nregions throughout the LSST survey to get deep images earlier, have long-term\nmonitoring in the fields, and produce deeper images overall. These fields will\nprovide a legacy for cosmology, extragalactic, and transient/variable science.\n