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Session 9 - The Hubble Deep Field.
Display session, Monday, January 15
North Banquet Hall, Convention Center
The Hubble Space Telescope was used in December 1995 to obtain very deep images of a single high galactic latitude field with the aim of studying galaxies to very faint limits in both total magnitude and in surface brightness.
In this poster, we outline the considerations that went in to selecting the field and filters, allocating observing time between filters, and scheduling the observations. The Hubble Deep Field was selected to have very low H I column density, low IR emission, no nearby bright optical or radio sources, and no known nearby galaxies. A primary criterion for selecting the field was that it be available in the Continuous Viewing Zone (CVZ). The observations were obtained in four filters centered at 300, 450, 606, and 814 nm. These wide filters span most of the wavelength range available to the WFPC-2 and represent a compromise between competing desires for depth and for color information. Because CVZ observations graze the limb of the earth, stray light can enter the telescope and increase the background during daylight portions of the orbit. The observations were scheduled to minimize the background based on detailed stray-light predictions. To maximize the depth of the observations, the field was observed at a single roll angle, with small steps of the telescope to smooth out flat-fielding uncertainties.
