THE WFC3 INFRARED SPECTROSCOPIC PARALLEL (WISP) SURVEY

Journal Article · Mon Nov 01 04:00:00 EDT 2010 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/723/1/104· OSTI ID:21467209

Atek, H; Scarlata, C; Colbert, J W; Shim, H ^[1]; Malkan, M; Ross, N R ^[2]; McCarthy, P; Dressler, A ^[3]; Teplitz, H I ^[4]; Siana, B; Bridge, C ^[5]; Henry, A; Martin, C ^[6]; Bunker, A J ^[7]; Fosbury, R A. E. ^[8]

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1. Spitzer Science Center, Caltech, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024 (United States)
3. Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science, Pasadena, CA 91101 (United States)
4. Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, Caltech, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
5. Department of Astronomy, Caltech, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
6. Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States)
7. Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Road, OX13RH (United Kingdom)
8. Space Telescope-European Coordinating Facility, Garching (Germany)

We present the WFC3 Infrared Spectroscopic Parallel (WISP) Survey. WISP is obtaining slitless, near-infrared grism spectroscopy of {approx}90 independent, high-latitude fields by observing in the pure-parallel mode with the Wide Field Camera Three on the Hubble Space Telescope for a total of {approx}250 orbits. Spectra are obtained with the G{sub 102} ({lambda} = 0.8-1.17 {mu}m, R {approx}210) and G{sub 141} grisms ({lambda} = 1.11-1.67 {mu}m, R {approx}130), together with direct imaging in the J and H bands (F110W and F140W, respectively). In the present paper, we present the first results from 19 WISP fields, covering approximately 63 arcmin{sup 2}. For typical exposure times ({approx}6400 s in G{sub 102} and {approx}2700 s in G{sub 141}), we reach 5{sigma} detection limits for emission lines of f {approx} 5 x 10{sup -17} erg s{sup -1} cm{sup -2} for compact objects. Typical direct imaging 5{sigma} limits are 26.3 and 26.1 mag. (AB) in F110W and F140W, respectively. Restricting ourselves to the lines measured with the highest confidence, we present a list of 328 emission lines, in 229 objects, in a redshift range 0.3 < z < 3. The single-line emitters are likely to be a mix of H{alpha} and [O III]5007,4959 A, with H{alpha} predominating. The overall surface density of high-confidence emission-line objects in our sample is approximately 4 per arcmin{sup 2}. These first fields show high equivalent width sources, active galactic nucleus, and post-starburst galaxies. The median observed star formation rate (SFR) of our H{alpha}-selected sample is 4 M{sub sun} yr{sup -1}. At intermediate redshifts, we detect emission lines in galaxies as faint as H{sub 140} {approx} 25, or M{sub R} < -19, and are sensitive to SFRs down to less than 1 M{sub sun} yr{sup -1}. The slitless grisms on WFC3 provide a unique opportunity to study the spectral properties of galaxies much fainter than L* at the peak of the galaxy assembly epoch.

• OSTI ID: 21467209
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 723; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
EMISSION
GALAXIES
ORBITS
RED SHIFT
STARS
TELESCOPES