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CALIFA, the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area survey

Astronomy and Astrophysics · 2011 · Vol. 538 · pp. A8–A8

S. F. Sánchez✉(Calar Alto Observatory)Robert C. Kennicutt(University of Cambridge)A. Gil de Paz(Universidad Complutense de Madrid)Glenn van de Ven(Max Planck Institute for Astronomy)J. M. Vı́lchez(Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía)L. Wisotzki(Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam)C. J. Walcher(Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam)D. Mast(Calar Alto Observatory)J. A. L. Aguerri(Universidad de La Laguna)Sergio Albiol-Pérez(Universidad de Zaragoza)A. Alonso‐Herrero(Instituto de Física de Cantabria)J. Alves(University of Vienna)J. Bakos(Universidad de La Laguna)T. Bartáková(Masaryk University)Joss Bland‐Hawthorn(University of Sydney)A. Boselli(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)D. J. Bomans(Ruhr University Bochum)Á. Castillo-Morales(Universidad Complutense de Madrid)C. Cortijo-Ferrero(Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía)A. de Lorenzo-Cáceres(Universidad de La Laguna)A. del Olmo(Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía)R.‐J. Dettmar(Ruhr University Bochum)Á. I. Díaz(Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)Simon Ellis(University of Sydney)J. Falcón‐Barroso(Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias)H. Flores(Galaxies, Etoiles, Physique et Instrumentation)Anna Gallazzi(University of Copenhagen)B. García‐Lorenzo(Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias)R. M. González Delgado(Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía)N. Gruel(Centro de Estudios de Física del Cosmos de Aragón)Tim Haines(University of Missouri–Kansas City)Cai-Na Hao(Tianjin Normal University)B. Husemann(Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam)J. Iglésias-Páramo(Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía)K. Jahnkę(Max Planck Institute for Astronomy)Benjamin D. Johnson(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)B. Jungwiert(Charles University)V. Kalinova(Max Planck Institute for Astronomy)C. Kehrig(Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam)D. Kupko(Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam)Á. R. López-Sánchez(Macquarie University)M. Lyubenova(Max Planck Institute for Astronomy)R. A. Marino(Calar Alto Observatory)E. Mármol-Queraltó(Universidad Complutense de Madrid)I. Márquez(Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía)J. Masegosa(Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía)Sharon E. Meidt(Max Planck Institute for Astronomy)J. Méndez‐Abreu(Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias)A. Monreal‐Ibero(Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía)C. Montijo(Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía)A. Mourão(Instituto Superior Técnico)Guillermo Palacios-Navarro(Universidad de Zaragoza)P. Papaderos(Centre for Astrophysics of the University of Porto)A. Pasquali(Heidelberg University)R. F. Peletier(University of Groningen)E. Pérez(Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía)Isabel Pérez(Universidad de Granada)A. QuirrenbachM. Relaño(Universidad de Granada)F. F. Rosales-Ortega(Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)Martin M. Roth(Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam)T. Ruiz-Lara(Universidad de Granada)P. Sánchez–Blázquez(Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)Chandreyee Sengupta(Calar Alto Observatory)Raj Laxmi Singh(Max Planck Institute for Astronomy)V. Stanishev(Instituto Superior Técnico)S. C. Trager(University of Groningen)A. Vazdekis(Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias)K. Viironen(Centro de Estudios de Física del Cosmos de Aragón)Vivienne Wild(University of Edinburgh)S. Zibetti(University of Copenhagen)B. Ziegler(University of Vienna)

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Abstract

The final product of galaxy evolution through cosmic time is the population of galaxies in the local universe. These galaxies are also those that can be studied in most detail, thus providing a stringent benchmark for our understanding of galaxy evolution. Through the huge success of spectroscopic single-fiber, statistical surveys of the Local Universe in the last decade, it has become clear, however, that an authoritative observational description of galaxies will involve measuring their spatially resolved properties over their full optical extent for a statistically significant sample. We present here the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) survey, which has been designed to provide a first step in this direction. We summarize the survey goals and design, including sample selection and observational strategy. We also showcase the data taken during the first observing runs (June/July 2010) and outline the reduction pipeline, quality control schemes and general characteristics of the reduced data.

Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, PhenomenaPhysicsAstrophysicsField (mathematics)Astronomy