The Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH) is a 524-orbit multi-cycle treasury program to use the gravitational lensing properties of 25 galaxy clusters to accurately constrain their mass distributions. The survey, described in detail in this paper, will definitively establish the degree of concentration of dark matter in the cluster cores, a key prediction of structure formation models. The CLASH cluster sample is larger and less biased than current samples of space-based imaging studies of clusters to similar depth, as we have minimized lensing-based selection that favors systems with overly dense cores. Specifically, twenty CLASH clusters are solely X-ray selected. The X-ray selected clusters are massive (kT > 5 keV) and, in most cases, dynamically relaxed. Five additional clusters are included for their lensing strength (θ Ein > 35 at z s = 2) to optimize the likelihood of finding highly magnified high-z (z > 7) galaxies. A total of 16 broadband filters, spanning the near-UV to near-IR, are employed for each 20-orbit campaign on each cluster. These data are used to measure precise (σ z ∼ 0.02(1+z)) photometric redshifts for newly discovered arcs. Observations of each cluster are spread over 8 epochs to enable a search for Type Ia supernovae at z > 1 to improve constraints on the time dependence of the dark energy equation of state and the evolution of supernovae. We present newly re-derived X-ray luminosities, temperatures, and Fe abundances for the CLASH clusters as well as a representative source list for MACS1149.6+2223 (z = 0.544).

The Subaru Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) is a massively-multiplexed fiber-fed optical and near-infrared 3-arm spectrograph (N fiber =2400, 380≤ λ ≤ 1260nm, 1.3 degree diameter hexagonal field), offering unique opportunities in survey astronomy. Following a successful external design review the instrument is now under construction with first light anticipated in late 2017. Here we summarize the science case for this unique instrument in terms of provisional plans for a Subaru Strategic Program of ≃300 nights. We describe plans to constrain the nature of dark energy via a survey of emission line galaxies spanning a comoving volume of 9.3h −3 Gpc 3 in the redshift range 0.8 < z < 2.4. In each of 6 independent redshift bins, the cosmological distances will be measured to 3% precision via the baryonic acoustic oscillation scale, and redshift-space distortion measures will be used to constrain structure growth to 6% precision. In the near-field cosmology program, radial velocities and chemical abundances of stars in the Milky Way and M31 will be used to infer the past assembly histories of spiral galaxies and the structure of their dark matter halos. Data will be secured for 10 6 stars in the Galactic thick-disk, halo and tidal streams as faint as V ∼ 22, including stars with V < 20 to complement the goals of the Gaia mission. A medium-resolution mode with R = 5, 000 to be implemented in the red arm will allow the measurement of multiple α-element abundances and more precise velocities for Galactic stars, elucidating the detailed chemo-dynamical structure and evolution of each of the main stellar components of the Milky Way Galaxy and of its dwarf spheroidal galaxies. The M31 campaign will target red giant branch stars with 21.5< V <22.5, obtaining radial velocities and metallicities over an unprecedented area of 65 deg 2 . For the extragalactic program, our simulations suggest the wide wavelength range of PFS will be particularly powerful in probing the galaxy population and its clustering over a wide redshift range. We propose to conduct a color-selected survey of 1 < z < 2 galaxies and AGN over 16 deg 2 to J ≃23.4, yielding a fair sample of galaxies with stellar masses above ∼ 10 10 M ⊙ at z ≃ 2. A two-tiered survey of higher redshift Lyman break galaxies and Lyman alpha emitters will quantify the properties of early systems close to the reionization epoch. PFS will also provide unique spectroscopic opportunities beyond these currentlyenvisaged surveys, particularly in the era of Euclid, LSST and TMT.

The stellar populations of galaxies hold vital clues to their formation histories. In this paper we present results based on modeling stacked spectra of early-type galaxies drawn from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) as a function of velocity dispersion, σ, from 90 km s −1 to 300 km s −1 . The spectra are of extremely high quality, with typical signal-to-noise ratio, S/N, of 1000 Å −1 , and a wavelength coverage of 4000Å−8800Å. Our population synthesis model includes variation in 16 elements from C to Ba, a two-component star formation history, the shift in effective temperature, ∆ T eff , of the stars with respect to a solar metallicity isochrone, and the stellar initial mass function (IMF), amongst other parameters. In our approach we fit the full optical spectra rather than a select number of spectral indices and are able to, for the first time, measure the abundances of the elements V, Cr, Mn, Co, and Ni from the integrated light of distant galaxies. Our main results are as follows: 1) lightweighted stellar ages range from 6 − 12 Gyr from low to high σ; 2) [Fe/H] varies by less than 0.1 dex across the entire sample; 3) Mg closely tracks O, and both increase from ≈ 0.0 at low σ to ∼ 0.25 at high σ; Si and Ti show a shallower rise with σ, and Ca tracks Fe rather than O; 4) the iron peak elements V, Cr, Mn, and Ni track Fe, while Co tracks O, suggesting that Co forms primarily in massive stars; 5) C and N track O over the full sample and [C/Fe] and [N/Fe] exceed 0.2 at high σ ; and 6) the variation in ∆ T eff with total metallicity closely follows theoretical predictions based on stellar evolution theory. This last result is significant because it implies that we are robustly solving not only for the detailed abundance patterns but also the detailed temperature distributions (i.e., isochrones) of the stars in these galaxies. A variety of tests reveal that the systematic uncertainties in our measurements are probably 0.05 dex or less. Our derived [Mg/Fe] and [O/Fe] abundance ratios are 0.05 − 0.1 dex lower than most previous determinations. Under the conventional interpretation that the variation in these ratios is due to star formation timescale variations, our results suggest longer star formation timescales for massive early-type galaxies than previous studies. Detailed chemical evolution models are necessary in order to translate the abundance ratio distributions of these galaxies into constraints on their formation histories. Alternatively, these data may provide useful constraints on the nucleosynthetic pathways for elements whose production is not well understood.

We present multiband photometry of 185 type-Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), with over 11,500 observations. These were acquired between 2001 and 2008 at the F. L. Whipple Observatory of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). This sample contains the largest number of homogeneously observed and reduced nearby SNe Ia (z 0.08) published to date. It more than doubles the nearby sample, bringing SN Ia cosmology to the point where systematic uncertainties dominate. Our natural system photometry has a precision of 0.02 mag in BV RI r i and 0.04 mag in U for points brighter than 17.5 mag. We also estimate a systematic uncertainty of 0.03 mag in our SN Ia standard system BV RI r i photometry and 0.07 mag for U. Comparisons of our standard system photometry with published SN Ia light curves and comparison stars, where available for the same SN, reveal agreement at the level of a few hundredths mag in most cases. We find that 1991bg-like SNe Ia are sufficiently distinct from other SNe Ia in their color and light-curve-shape/ luminosity relation that they should be treated separately in light-curve/distance fitter training samples. The CfA3 sample will contribute to the development of better light-curve/distance fitters, particularly in the few dozen cases where near-infrared photometry has been obtained and, together, can help disentangle host-galaxy reddening from intrinsic supernova color, reducing the systematic uncertainty in SN Ia distances due to dust.

We present results from modeling the optical spectra of a large sample of quiescent galaxies between 0.1 < z < 0.7 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the AGN and Galaxy Evolution Survey (AGES). We examine how the stellar ages and abundance patterns of galaxies evolve over time as a function of stellar mass from 10 9.6 -10 11.8 M . Galaxy spectra are stacked in bins of mass and redshift, and modeled over a wavelength range from 4000 Å to 5500 Å. Full spectrum stellar population synthesis modeling provides estimates of the age and the abundances of the elements Fe, Mg, C, N, and Ca. We find negligible evolution in elemental abundances at fixed stellar mass over roughly 7 Gyr of cosmic time. In addition, the increase in stellar ages with time for massive galaxies is consistent with passive evolution since z = 0.7. Taken together, these results favor a scenario in which the inner ∼ 0.3-3 R e of massive quiescent galaxies have been passively evolving over the last half of cosmic time. Interestingly, the derived stellar ages are considerably younger than the age of the universe at all epochs, consistent with an equivalent single-burst star formation epoch of z 1.5. These young stellar population ages coupled with the existence of massive quiescent galaxies at z > 1 indicate the inhomogeneous nature of the z 0.7 quiescent population. The data also permit the addition of newly-quenched galaxies at masses below ∼ 10 10.5 M at z < 0.7. Additionally, we analyze very deep Keck DEIMOS spectra of the two brightest quiescent galaxies in a cluster at z = 0.83. There is tentative evidence that these galaxies are older than their counterparts in low-density environments. In the Appendix, we demonstrate that our full spectrum modeling technique allows for accurate and reliable modeling of galaxy spectra to low S/N (∼ 20 Å −1 ) and/or low spectral resolution (R ∼ 500).