Large Observational Projects at Princeton

1. Suggested Subaru-NAOJ/Princeton Consortium: OverviewMichael Strauss, Ed Turner, Jim GunnJanuary 25, 2007

2. Large Observational Projects at Princeton • We have traditionally been involved in one or two large, department-wide projects at a time (currently SDSS and WMAP, segueing to AS2 and ACT) • We are not currently part of any large-telescope consortium. • The opportunity has arisen to partner with Japanese astronomical community to carry out surveys on the Subaru 8.2 meter telescope.

3. General Character of the Collaboration • MOU-based, institutional-level research consortium • Long term (5-10 years, extension possible) • Multiple (2+) science themes, initially • Extrasolar planets via coronagraphic imaging • High redshift universe via wide-field imaging survey • Scientific collaboration (not purchase of telescope time) • Telescope systems, instruments, software, … publication • Built on large scale “SDSS-like” survey programs • Enhanced by smaller scale PI-led projects • Strengthened by scientific visits and personnel exchange • Mutual benefit from complementary NAOJ and Princeton resources: Subaru, ACT, APO 3.5m, “AS2” data, funding, expertise, experience, other facilities (Spitzer, ALMA), etc.

4. Extrasolar Planets (to be expanded upon by Ed Turner) • Princeton to provide a new coronagraphic front end to work with HiCIAO (pupil coronagraph) • Additional GTO time for a dedicated survey • Planets around brown dwarfs • Study of candidate TPF targets • Young Jupiters • Debris Disks • Targets from AS2-ASEPS project (post-SDSS extrasolar planet survey with APO 2.5m) • Identification of targets for ALMA study

5. The High Redshift Universe:Wide-field imaging with Hyper-Suprime-Cam on Subaru(see presentation by Jim Gunn) • Subaru has the widest field of view of any 8-meter-class telescope; it is ideal for wide-field surveys. • Second-generation wide-field imager for Subaru requires upgrades to the Subaru top-end, costing roughly $10 million. Princeton provides funds to enable this upgrade. • Princeton will be deeply involved in developing survey software (photometric pipeline, calibration, quality assurance, data products, database construction, etc.), building on SDSS experience.

6. NAOJ/Princeton team will design a ~1000 square degree equatorial survey to study growth of structure, gravitational lensing, high redshift rich clusters, galaxy properties and evolution. • The equatorial field is also the location of planned deep imaging surveys in mm (ACT), near-IR (Spitzer), and radio (VLA). Targets for ALMA? • Subaru is interested in devoting ~200 nights to such a wide-field survey, over ~5 years. • FMOS (400-fiber near-IR OH suppression spectrograph) and WFMOS (planned 4000-fiber optical spectrograph built by Gemini) are exciting possibilities for collaboration in the future.

7. Building a Partnership • Before Christmas, six of us traveled to Hilo and Tokyo to discuss this collaboration. There is great interest in Japan in massive surveys: the success of SDSS has been an important influence, as has been a strong historical connection between Princeton and the Japanese astronomical community. • Our ideas will be presented to the Subaru User’s Committee next week. • On short time scales, we might: • develop software for, and carry out surveys with SuPrimeCam (1/4 deg2) • Start initial HiCIAO projects (prior to new front end) • Get access to Subaru (a few nights/semester, in collaboration with Japanese), and give Japanese access to APO 3.5m. • Have staff exchanges & short/long-term visits • Develop a joint/shared postdoc program

8. Next Steps • Develop science plan and goals in detail. • Subaru Users Annual Meeting discussion next week. • Present plan to Princeton administration for approval in the next month. • Prepare and sign MOU as soon as practical. • Commence consortium activities.