WINGS: a WIde-field Nearby Galaxy-cluster Survey

Free access article

Issue		A&A Volume 445, Number 3, January III 2006


Page(s)		805 - 817
Section		Cosmology (including clusters of galaxies)
DOI		http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20053816

A&A 445, 805-817 (2006)
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20053816

I. Optical imaging

G. Fasano¹, C. Marmo^{2, 3}, J. Varela¹, M. D'Onofrio⁴, B. M. Poggianti¹, M. Moles⁵, E. Pignatelli¹, D. Bettoni¹, P. Kjærgaard⁶, L. Rizzi⁷, W. J. Couch⁸ and A. Dressler⁹

¹ INAF - Padova Astronomical Observatory, Vicolo Osservatorio 5, 35122 Padova, Italy
e-mail: fasano@pd.astro.it
² CEA/DSM/DAPNIA, Service d'Astrophysique, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
³ Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, 98 bis Bd Arago, 75014 Paris, France
⁴ Astronomy Department, University of Padova, Vicolo Osservatorio 2, 35122 Padova, Italy
⁵ Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC) Apartado 3004, 18080 Granada, Spain
⁶ Copenhagen University Observatory. The Niels Bohr Institute for Astronomy Physics and Geophysics, Juliane Maries Vej 30, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
⁷ Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, Hi 96822, USA
⁸ School of Physics, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia
⁹ Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Pasadena, CA 91101, USA

(Received 12 July 2005 / Accepted 5 September 2005 )

Abstract
This is the first paper of a series that will present data and scientific results from the WINGS project, a wide-field, multiwavelength imaging and spectroscopic survey of galaxies in 77 nearby clusters. The sample was extracted from the ROSAT catalogs of X-Ray emitting clusters, with constraints on the redshift ( 0.04< z<0.07) and distance from the galactic plane ( ${\vert}b{\vert}\geq 20$ deg).

The global goal of the WINGS project is the systematic study of the local cosmic variance of the cluster population and of the properties of cluster galaxies as a function of cluster properties and local environment. This data collection will allow the definition of a local, "zero-point" reference against which to gauge the cosmic evolution when compared to more distant clusters.

The core of the project consists of wide-field optical imaging of the selected clusters in the B and V bands. We have also completed a multi-fiber, medium-resolution spectroscopic survey for 51 of the clusters in the master sample. The imaging and spectroscopy data were collected using, respectively, the WFC@INT and WYFFOS@WHT in the northern hemisphere, and the WFI@MPG and 2dF@AAT in the southern hemisphere. In addition, a NIR (J, K) survey of ${\sim}$ 50 clusters and an H $_{\alpha}+U$ survey of some 10 clusters are presently ongoing with the WFCAM@UKIRT and WFC@INT, respectively, while a very-wide-field optical survey has also been programmed with OmegaCam@VST.

In this paper we briefly outline the global objectives and the main characteristics of the WINGS project. Moreover, the observing strategy and the data reduction of the optical imaging survey (WINGS-OPT) are presented. We have achieved a photometric accuracy of ${\sim}$ 0.025 mag, reaching completeness to $V\sim 23.5$ . Field size and resolution (FWHM) span the absolute intervals (1.6-2.7) Mpc and (0.7-1.7) kpc, respectively, depending on the redshift and on the seeing. This allows the planned studies to obtain a valuable description of the local properties of clusters and galaxies in clusters.

Key words: galaxies: photometry -- galaxies: fundamental parameters -- galaxies: evolution

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