VLT/ISAAC HUDF Ks-band imaging data release

Using the Infrared Spectrometer and Array Camera (ISAAC) mounted at the Antu Unit Telescope of the VLT at ESO's Cerro Paranal Observatory, Chile, deep near-infrared imaging observations of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF) located within the Chandra Deep Field South region were carried out in Ks band. Based on public ESO archival data a single co-added image was created covering 5.40 arcmin² of the HUDF region with a total integration time of 25.3 hours, an effective PSF of 0.36 arcsec FWHM, and a 5-sigma depth for point sources of 25.60 mag (AB) which is 0.67 mag deeper than the respective image resulting from the VLT/ISAAC NIR imaging survey that was carried out to support the GOODS project. To this end, data of the 21-hours integration obtained under ESO program 73.A-0764, led by I. Labbe, were combined with the ca. 6-hours integration of this field obtained under program 168.A-0485, led by C. Cesarsky (ESO/GOODS). The data set presented here was described in Retzlaff et al. 2010, A&A in press and utilized to characterize the completeness and contamination of the shallower GOODS survey tile F14 and to establish number counts of faint galaxies in Ks band.

Read More...