Please note Survey changes for 2003 August launch, most especially XMM-LSS coordinate change. Even though SIRTF has now launched, all information on this page is still subject to change and should be considered tentative! If you are making detailed plans based on the SWIRE survey, it would be safest to contact the science team to confirm the details.
SWIRE will survey approximately 65 square degrees distributed over 7 fields in the northern and southern sky, which will enable follow-up with many existing ground and space telescope facilities.
The SWIRE Team has performed an exhaustive search for high-latitude fields with low-background to maximize the sensitivity of the SWIRE Legacy Survey. The fields below represent, in many respects the largest, lowest infrared background regions in the sky. The selection criteria were:
< 0.5 MJy/SR)
in order to minimize
confusion and noise.
Survey Areas:
Survey fields reflect AORs effective as of Aug 2003 launch. Images show IRAC/MIPS fields for plausible observation dates within SWIRE requested timing constraints, but remain subject to the uncertainties of spacecraft scheduling.
| Field | Center (J2000) | Area | Primary Window | P.A. | Background | Program ID | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RA | DEC | MIPS | IRAC | Start | End | (°E of N) | (MJy/Sr) | ||
| ELAIS S1 - images | 00h 38m 30s | -44° 00' | 14.56 | 2004 Jun 10 | 2004 Jul 23 | 156-177° | 0.42 | SWIRES_ELAIS_S1 | |
| XMM-LSS - images | 02h 21m 20s | -04° 30' | 9.18 | 2004 Jul 17 | 2004 Aug 28 | 156-170° | 1.3 | SWIRES_XMM_LSS | |
| Chandra-S - images | 03h 32m 00s | -28° 16' | 7.83 | 2004 Aug 15 | 2004 Sep 10 | 165-185° | 0.46 | SWIRES_CHANDRA_S | |
| Lockman Field - images | 10h 45m 00s | +58° 00' | 14.40 | 2004 Apr 23 | 2004 May 23 | 45-24° | 0.38 | SWIRES_LOCKMAN | |
| Lonsdale Field - images | 14h 41m 00s | +59° 25' | 6.93 | 2004 Jan 31 | 2004 Feb 21 | 191-170° | 0.47 | SWIRES_LONSDALE | |
| ELAIS N1 - images | 16h 11m 00s | +55° 00' | 9.18 | 2003 Dec 15 | 2004 Jan 20 | 255-220° | 0.44 | SWIRES_ELAIS_N1 | |
| ELAIS N2 - images | 16h 36m 48s | +41° 01' 45" | 4.66 | 2004 Jun 19 | 2004 Jul 23 | 76-43° | 0.42 | SWIRES_ELAIS_N2 | |
Ancillary Data:
This is a list of data which will be used as part of the SWIRE science project. More data exists (e.g. SCUBA fields in the Lockman Hole, etc.) than has been listed here.
Pre-Existing Data
Optical/Near-IR Imaging
The ELAIS fields have been extensively surveyed at a variety of wavelengths with optical data to typical depths of 22-25 in a variety of Gunn filters.
Radio
The extremely large size of the fields and great depths makes observation of a radio dataset of comparable depth and breadth impossibly time-consuming. The ELAIS fields have radio observations already available.
New Data
In addition to the large amount of data already extant for at least portions of the above survey fields, the SWIRE team will aquire new ground-based data for use in interpreting the SIRTF data. Specifically, we intend to acquire:
Optical/Near-IR Imaging
New ground-based observations are planned at KPNO, CTIO and Palomar Observatories for optical identification of the entire Lockman, Lonsdale and Chandra-S fields to r' ~ 25. We also plan multi-band imaging of smaller areas (3-4 sq deg) within those fields to g'~26, r'~25, i'~24 using the NOAO/CTIO Mosaic Cameras and the Palomar Large Format Camera and . Lockman/Lonsdale to K'~19.5, using FLAMINGOS at KPNO. Further observations are planned for the ELAIS Fields by UK team members. Extensive XMM-LSS Optical follow-up is planned at ESO and the CFHT with additional Near-IR observations also planned.
Radio
The XMM-LSS field will be completely surveyed at radio wavelengths 90 and 400cm to a depth of 1 mJy.
Watch this space!
A variety of additional observations are being proposed including X-Ray and Radio observations. Details will be forthcoming...
Last modified 21 Aug 2002