Journal article
An HST Wide-field Survey of the Galactic Bulge: Overview, Strategy, and First Results
Astrophysical journal. Letters, Vol.1003(1), L1
05/20/2026
DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ae53e8
Abstract
We present a Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging survey of a 1.1 deg 2 sky area toward the Milky Way Galactic bulge. This field significantly overlaps with the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Galactic Bulge Time Domain Survey. High angular resolution imaging of this area with HST before the start of the Roman Galactic Exoplanet Survey will greatly strengthen Roman’s ability to characterize detected exoplanet systems, as well as provide a rich and wide-field archive for use as a legacy dataset toward the Galactic bulge for the broader community. We conduct coordinated parallel imaging with both wide-field cameras on HST, the Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys, utilizing the F606W and F814W passbands. Approximately 70% of the survey was conducted during HST Cycle 32, with the remaining 30% conducted during Cycle 33. In this Letter, the first in a series, we give a general overview of the program and the observing strategy and present early results. This campaign secures HST’s lasting impact on the high-precision study of stellar populations, dynamics, exoplanet systems, interstellar extinction, metallicities, cluster associations, and more toward the center of our Galaxy.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- An HST Wide-field Survey of the Galactic Bulge: Overview, Strategy, and First Results
- Creators
- Sean K. Terry - Goddard Space Flight CenterJay Anderson - Space Telescope Science InstituteCharles A. Beichman - Jet Propulsion LaboratoryDavid P. Bennett - Goddard Space Flight CenterAparna Bhattacharya - Goddard Space Flight CenterJean-Philippe Beaulieu - Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueB. Scott Gaudi - The Ohio State UniversityJoel Green - Space Telescope Science InstituteMacy J. Huston - University of California, BerkeleyJessica R. Lu - University of California, BerkeleyRay A. Lucas - Space Telescope Science InstituteDavid M. Nataf - University of IowaMatthew T. Penny - Louisiana State UniversityNatalia E. Rektsini - Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueCarolina Rodriguez Sanchez-VahamondeAikaterini Vandorou - Goddard Space Flight Center
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Astrophysical journal. Letters, Vol.1003(1), L1
- DOI
- 10.3847/2041-8213/ae53e8
- ISSN
- 2041-8205
- eISSN
- 2041-8213
- Publisher
- IOP Publishing Ltd
- Grant note
- Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI): GO-17776
Support for program GO-17776 was provided by NASA through a grant from STScI, which is operated by AURA, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. S.K.T., J.A., C.A.B., D.P.B., A.B., B.S.G., M.J.H., J.R.L., D.M.N., M.T.P., and A.V. are supported by the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Project through the National Aeronautics and Space Administration grant 80NSSC24M0022. B.S.G. is also supported by the Ohio State University through the Thomas Jefferson Chair for Discovery and Space Exploration endowment. J.P.B. and N.R. have been supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council Discovery Project grant 240101842 and the SPACE-MLENS ANR grant ANR-24-CE31-3263. M.J.H. acknowledges support from the Heising-Simons Foundation under grant No. 2022-3542. All of the data presented in this Letter were obtained from the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) at the Space Telescope Science Institute. The specific observations analyzed can be accessed via doi:10.17909/fq12-f295.
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 05/20/2026
- Academic Unit
- Physics and Astronomy
- Record Identifier
- 9985163701302771
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