Gemini Frontier Fields: Wide-field Adaptive Optics $K_s$-band Imaging of the Galaxy Clusters MACS J0416.1-2403 and Abell 2744

Abstract

We have observed two of the six Frontier Fields galaxy clusters, MACS J0416.1-2403 and Abell 2744, using the Gemini Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics System (GeMS) and the Gemini South Adaptive Optics Imager (GSAOI). With 0.08"-0.10" FWHM our data are nearly diffraction-limited over a 100"x100" wide area. GeMS/GSAOI complements the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) redwards of 1.6microns with twice the angular resolution. We reach a 5 sigma depth of Ks = 25.6 mag (AB) for compact sources. In this paper we describe the observations, the data processing and the initial public data release. We provide fully calibrated, co-added images matching the native GSAOI pixel scale as well as the larger plate scales of the HST release, adding to the legacy value of the Frontier Fields. Our work demonstrates that even for fields at high galactic latitude, where natural guide stars are rare, current multi-conjugated adaptive optics technology at 8m-telescopes has opened a new window on the distant Universe. Observations of a third Frontier Field, Abell 370, are planned.

arXiv commentAccepted for publication in ApJS; significantly revised compared to the first submission

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Cited by in corpus (14)

• The Frontier Fields: Survey Design
• The Extraordinary Amount of Substructure in the Hubble Frontier Fields Cluster Abell 2744
• Frontier Fields Clusters: Chandra and JVLA View of the Pre-Merging Cluster MACS J0416.1-2403
• AT 2017gbl: a dust obscured TDE candidate in a luminous infrared galaxy
• Ultra-deep Ks-band Imaging of the Hubble Frontier Fields
• First results from GeMS/GSAOI for project SUNBIRD: Supernovae UNmasked By Infra-Red Detection
• The stellar mass - size relation for cluster galaxies at z=1 with high angular resolution from the Gemini/GeMS multi-conjugate adaptive optics system
• The GeMS/GSAOI Galactic Globular Cluster Survey (G4CS) I: A Pilot Study of the stellar populations in NGC 2298 and NGC 3201
• High-resolution images of two wiggling stellar jets, MHO 1502 and MHO 2147, obtained with GSAOI+GeMS
• A subarcsecond near-infrared view of massive galaxies at z > 1 with Gemini Multiconjugate Adaptive Optics
• Multifrequency study of HH 137 and HH 138: Discovering new knots and molecular outflows with Gemini and APEX
• Substellar Initial Mass Function of Trumpler 14
• Gemini Follow-up of two massive HI clouds discovered with the Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder
• Multi-conjugated adaptive optics imaging of distant galaxies -- A comparison of Gemini/GSAOI and VLT/HAWK-I data