TY - JOUR
T1 - The first and second data releases of the Kilo-Degree Survey
AU - de Jong, Jelte T. A.
AU - Verdoes Kleijn, Gijs A.
AU - Boxhoorn, Danny R.
AU - Buddelmeijer, Hugo
AU - Capaccioli, Massimo
AU - Getman, Fedor
AU - Grado, Aniello
AU - Helmich, Ewout
AU - Huang, Zhuoyi
AU - Irisarri, Nancy
AU - Kuijken, Konrad
AU - La Barbera, Francesco
AU - McFarland, John P.
AU - Napolitano, Nicola R.
AU - Radovich, Mario
AU - Sikkema, Gert
AU - Valentijn, Edwin A.
AU - Begeman, Kor G.
AU - Brescia, Massimo
AU - Cavuoti, Stefano
AU - Choi, Ami
AU - Cordes, Oliver-Mark
AU - Covone, Giovanni
AU - Dall'Ora, Massimo
AU - Hildebrandt, Hendrik
AU - Longo, Giuseppe
AU - Nakajima, Reiko
AU - Paolillo, Maurizio
AU - Puddu, Emanuella
AU - Rifatto, Agatino
AU - Tortora, Crescenzo
AU - van Uitert, Edo
AU - Buddendiek, Axel
AU - Harnois-Déraps, Joachim
AU - Erben, Thomas
AU - Eriksen, Martin B.
AU - Heymans, Catherine
AU - Hoekstra, Henk
AU - Joachimi, Benjamin
AU - Kitching, Thomas D.
AU - Klaes, Dominik
AU - Koopmans, Léon V. E.
AU - Köhlinger, Fabian
AU - Roy, Nivya
AU - Sifón, Cristóbal
AU - Schneider, Peter
AU - Sutherland, Will J.
AU - Viola, Massimo
AU - Vriend, Willem-Jan
PY - 2015/10/1
Y1 - 2015/10/1
N2 - Context. The Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS) is an optical wide-field imaging
survey carried out with the VLT Survey Telescope and the OmegaCAM
camera. KiDS will image 1500 square degrees in four filters (ugri), and
together with its near-infrared counterpart VIKING will produce deep
photometry in nine bands. Designed for weak lensing shape and
photometric redshift measurements, its core science driver is mapping
the large-scale matter distribution in the Universe back to a redshift
of ~0.5. Secondary science cases include galaxy evolution, Milky Way
structure, and the detection of high-redshift clusters and quasars. Aims: KiDS is an ESO Public Survey and dedicated to serving the
astronomical community with high-quality data products derived from the
survey data. Public data releases, the first two of which are presented
here, are crucial for enabling independent confirmation of the survey's
scientific value. The achieved data quality and initial scientific
utilization are reviewed in order to validate the survey data.
Methods: A dedicated pipeline and data management system based on
Astro-WISE, combined with newly developed masking and source
classification tools, is used for the production of the data products
described here. Science projects based on these data products and
preliminary results are outlined. Results: For 148 survey tiles
(≈160 sq.deg.) stacked ugri images have been released, accompanied by
weight maps, masks, source lists, and a multi-band source catalogue.
Limiting magnitudes are typically 24.3, 25.1, 24.9, 23.8 (5σ in a
2'' aperture) in ugri, respectively, and the typical r-band PSF size is
less than 0.7''. The photometry prior to global homogenization is stable
at the ~2% (4%) level in gri (u) with some outliers due to
non-photometric conditions, while the astrometry shows a typical 2D rms
of 0.03''. Early scientific results include the detection of nine high-z
QSOs, fifteen candidate strong gravitational lenses, high-quality
photometric redshifts and structural parameters for hundreds of
thousands of galaxies.
AB - Context. The Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS) is an optical wide-field imaging
survey carried out with the VLT Survey Telescope and the OmegaCAM
camera. KiDS will image 1500 square degrees in four filters (ugri), and
together with its near-infrared counterpart VIKING will produce deep
photometry in nine bands. Designed for weak lensing shape and
photometric redshift measurements, its core science driver is mapping
the large-scale matter distribution in the Universe back to a redshift
of ~0.5. Secondary science cases include galaxy evolution, Milky Way
structure, and the detection of high-redshift clusters and quasars. Aims: KiDS is an ESO Public Survey and dedicated to serving the
astronomical community with high-quality data products derived from the
survey data. Public data releases, the first two of which are presented
here, are crucial for enabling independent confirmation of the survey's
scientific value. The achieved data quality and initial scientific
utilization are reviewed in order to validate the survey data.
Methods: A dedicated pipeline and data management system based on
Astro-WISE, combined with newly developed masking and source
classification tools, is used for the production of the data products
described here. Science projects based on these data products and
preliminary results are outlined. Results: For 148 survey tiles
(≈160 sq.deg.) stacked ugri images have been released, accompanied by
weight maps, masks, source lists, and a multi-band source catalogue.
Limiting magnitudes are typically 24.3, 25.1, 24.9, 23.8 (5σ in a
2'' aperture) in ugri, respectively, and the typical r-band PSF size is
less than 0.7''. The photometry prior to global homogenization is stable
at the ~2% (4%) level in gri (u) with some outliers due to
non-photometric conditions, while the astrometry shows a typical 2D rms
of 0.03''. Early scientific results include the detection of nine high-z
QSOs, fifteen candidate strong gravitational lenses, high-quality
photometric redshifts and structural parameters for hundreds of
thousands of galaxies.
KW - methods: observational
KW - surveys
KW - galaxies: general
KW - large-scale structure of Universe
U2 - 10.1051/0004-6361/201526601
DO - 10.1051/0004-6361/201526601
M3 - Article
VL - 582
JO - Astronomy and Astrophysics
JF - Astronomy and Astrophysics
SN - 0004-6361
ER -