The VANDELS ESO spectroscopic survey
Abstract
VANDELS is a uniquely-deep spectroscopic survey of high-redshift galaxies with the VIMOS spectrograph on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). The survey has obtained ultra-deep optical (0.48 < λ < 1.0 μm) spectroscopy of ≃2100 galaxies within the redshift interval 1.0 ≤ z ≤ 7.0, over a total area of ≃ 0.2 deg2 centred on the CANDELS UDS and CDFS fields. Based on accurate photometric redshift pre-selection, 85% of the galaxies targeted by VANDELS were selected to be at z ≥ 3. Exploiting the red sensitivity of the refurbished VIMOS spectrograph, the fundamental aim of the survey is to provide the high signal-to-noise ratio spectra necessary to measure key physical properties such as stellar population ages, masses, metallicities and outflow velocities from detailed absorption-line studies. Using integration times calculated to produce an approximately constant signal-to-noise ratio (20 < tint < 80 hours), the VANDELS survey targeted: a) bright star-forming galaxies at 2.4 ≤ z ≤ 5.5, b) massive quiescent galaxies at 1.0 ≤ z ≤ 2.5, c) fainter star-forming galaxies at 3.0 ≤ z ≤ 7.0 and d) X-ray/Spitzer-selected active galactic nuclei and Herschel-detected galaxies. By targeting two extragalactic survey fields with superb multi-wavelength imaging data, VANDELS will produce a unique legacy data set for exploring the physics underpinning high-redshift galaxy evolution. In this paper we provide an overview of the VANDELS survey designed to support the science exploitation of the first ESO public data release, focusing on the scientific motivation, survey design and target selection.
Citation
McLure , R J , Pentericci , L , Cimatti , A , Dunlop , J S , Elbaz , D , Fontana , A , Nandra , K , Amorin , R , Bolzonella , M , Bongiorno , A , Carnall , A C , Castellano , M , Cirasuolo , M , Cucciati , O , Cullen , F , De Barros , S , Finkelstein , S L , Fontanot , F , Franzetti , P , Fumana , M , Gargiulo , A , Garilli , B , Guaita , L , Hartley , W G , Iovino , A , Jarvis , M J , Juneau , S , Karman , W , Maccagni , D , Marchi , F , Mármol-Queraltó , E , Pompei , E , Pozzetti , L , Scodeggio , M , Sommariva , V , Talia , M , Almaini , O , Balestra , I , Bardelli , S , Bell , E F , Bourne , N , Bowler , R A A , Brusa , M , Buitrago , F , Caputi , K I , Cassata , P , Charlot , S , Citro , A , Cresci , G , Cristiani , S , Curtis-Lake , E , Dickinson , M , Fazio , G G , Ferguson , H C , Fiore , F , Franco , M , Fynbo , J P U , Galametz , A , Georgakakis , A , Giavalisco , M , Grazian , A , Hathi , N P , Jung , I , Kim , S , Koekemoer , A M , Khusanova , Y , Le Fèvre , O , Lotz , J M , Mannucci , F , Maltby , D T , Matsuoka , K , McLeod , D J , Mendez-Hernandez , H , Mendez-Abreu , J , Mignoli , M , Moresco , M , Mortlock , A , Nonino , M , Pannella , M , Papovich , C , Popesso , P , Rosario , D P , Salvato , M , Santini , P , Schaerer , D , Schreiber , C , Stark , D P , Tasca , L A M , Thomas , R , Treu , T , Vanzella , E , Wild , V , Williams , C C , Zamorani , G & Zucca , E 2018 , ' The VANDELS ESO spectroscopic survey ' Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , vol. 479 , no. 1 , pp. 25-42 . https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/sty1213
Publication
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0035-8711Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2018, the Author(s). This work has been made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/sty1213
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