Extragalactic Fields Optimized for Adaptive Optics
Abstract
In this paper we present the coordinates of 67 55' x 55' patches of sky which have the rare combination of both high stellar surface density (>0.5 arcmin^{-2} with 13<R<16.5 mag) and low extinction (E(B-V)<0.1). These fields are ideal for adaptive-optics based follow-up of extragalactic targets. One region of sky, situated near Baade's Window, contains most of the patches we have identified. Our optimal field, centered at RA: 7h24m3s, Dec: -1deg27'15", has an additional advantage of being accessible from both hemispheres. We propose a figure of merit for quantifying real-world adaptive optics performance, and use this to analyze the performance of multi-conjugate adaptive optics in these fields. We also compare our results to those that would be obtained in existing deep fields. In some cases adaptive optics observations undertaken in the fields given in this paper would be orders of magnitude more efficient than equivalent observations undertaken in existing deep fields.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1101.0818,
title = {Extragalactic Fields Optimized for Adaptive Optics},
author = {Ivana Damjanov and Roberto G. Abraham and Karl Glazebrook and Peter McGregor and Francois Rigaut and Patrick J. McCarthy and Jarle Brinchmann and Jean-Charles Cuillandre and Yannick Mellier and Henry Joy McCracken and Patrick Hudelot and David Monet},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1101.0818},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
28 pages, 15 figures, 1 table; accepted for publication in PASP