We report the results of an extensive imaging and spectroscopic survey in the GOODS-North field completed using DEIMOS on the Keck II telescope. Observations of 2018 targets in a magnitude-limited sample of 2911 objects to R=24.4 yield secure redshifts for a sample of 1440 galaxies and AGN plus 96 stars. In addition to redshifts and associated quality assessments, our catalog also includes photometric and astrometric measurements for all targets detected in our R-band imaging survey of the GOODS-North region. We investigate various sources of incompleteness and find the redshift catalog to be 53% complete at its limiting magnitude. The median redshift of z=0.65 is lower than in similar deep surveys because we did not select against low-redshift targets. Comparison with other redshift surveys in the same field, including a complementary Hawaii-led DEIMOS survey, establishes that our velocity uncertainties are as low as 40 km/s for red galaxies and that our redshift confidence assessments are accurate. The distributions of rest-frame magnitudes and colors among the sample agree well with model predictions out to and beyond z=1. We will release all survey data, including extracted 1-D and sky-subtracted 2-D spectra, thus providing a sizable and homogeneous database for the GOODS-North field which will enable studies of large scale structure, spectral indices, internal galaxy kinematics, and the predictive capabilities of photometric redshifts.Comment: 17 pages, 18 figures, submitted to AJ; v2 minor changes; see survey database at http://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/realpublic/science/tksurvey

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Aims. Observational data on companion statistics around young stellar systems is needed to flesh out the formation pathways for extrasolar planets and brown dwarfs. Aperture masking is a new technique that is able to address an important part of this discovery space. Methods. We observed the two debris disk systems HD 92945 and HD 141569 with sparse aperture masking (SAM), a new mode offered on the NaCo instrument at the VLT. A search for faint companions was performed using a detection strategy based on the analysis of closure phases recovered from interferograms recorded on the Conica camera.Results. Our results demonstrate that SAM is a very competitive mode in the field of companion detection. We obtained 5σ highcontrast detection limits at λ/D of 2.5 × 10 −3 (ΔL = 6.5) for HD 92945 and 4.6 × 10 −3 (ΔL = 5.8) for HD 141569. According to brown dwarf evolutionary models, our data impose an upper mass boundary for any companion for the two stars to, respectively, 18 and 22 Jupiter masses at minimum separations of 1.5 and 7 AU. The detection limits is mostly independent of angular separation, until reaching the diffraction limit of the telescope. Conclusions. We have placed upper limits on the existence of companions to our target systems that fall close to the planetary mass regime. This demonstrates the potential for SAM mode to contribute to studies of faint companions. We furthermore show that the final dynamic range obtained is directly proportional to the error on the closure phase measurement. At the present performance levels of 0.28 degree closure phase error, SAM is among the most competitive techniques for recovering companions at scales of one to several times the diffraction limit of the telescope. Further improvements to the detection threshold can be expected with more accurate phase calibration.

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We present a new method to estimate the absolute ages of stellar systems. This method is based on the difference in magnitude between the main sequence turn-off (MSTO) and a well defined knee located along the lower main sequence (MSK). This feature is caused by the collisionally induced absorption of molecular hydrogen and it can be easily identified in near-infrared (NIR) and in optical-NIR color-magnitude diagrams of stellar systems. We took advantage of deep and accurate NIR images collected with the Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics Demonstrator temporarily available on the Very Large Telescope and of optical images collected with the Advanced Camera for Surveys Wide Field Camera on the Hubble Space Telescope and with ground-based telescopes to estimate the absolute age of the globular NGC 3201 using both the MSTO and the ∆(MSTO-MSK). We have adopted a new set of cluster isochrones and we found that the absolute ages based on the two methods agree to within one sigma. However, the errors of the ages based on the ∆(MSTO-MSK) method are potentially more than a factor of two smaller, since they are not affected by uncertainties in cluster distance or reddening. Current isochrones appear to predict slightly bluer (≈0.05 mag) NIR and optical-NIR colors than observed for magnitudes fainter than the MSK. Subject headings: globular clusters: individual (NGC3201) -stars: evolution -stars: fundamental parameters 1 Based on near infrared observations made with ESO telescopes SOFI@NTT, La Silla; MAD@VLT Paranal, projects: 66.D-0557, 074.D-0655, ID96406 and with the CTIO telescope ISPI@4m Blanco, La Serena. Based on optical data collected with ESO telescopes and retrieved from the ESO Science Archive Facility.

We present deep and precise photometry (F 435W , F 625W , F 658N) of ω Cen collected with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). We have identified ≈ 6,500 white dwarf (WD) candidates, and the ratio of WD and Main Sequence (MS) star counts is found 1 Based on observations collected with the Advanced Camera for Surveys on board of the Hubble Space Telescope.

We present an overview of the OSIRIS integral field spectrograph which was recently commissioned on the Keck II Telescope. OSIRIS works with the Keck Adaptive Optics system and utilizes an infrared transmissive lenslet array to sample a rectangular field of view at close to the Keck diffraction limit. By packing the spectra close together (2 pixel rows per spectrum) and using the Rockwell Hawaii-2 detector (wavelengths between 1 and 2.5 microns), we achieve a relatively large field of view (up to 6."4) while maintaining full broad-band spectral coverage at a resolution of 3800. Among the challenges of the instrument are: a fully cryogenic design (approximately 250 kg are brought down to 55K); four spatial scales from 0."02 to 0."10; extremely low wavefront error (approximately 25 nm of non-common path error); large all aluminum optics for the spectrograph; extremely repeatable spectral formats; and a sophisticated data reduction pipeline. OSIRIS also serves as a starting point for our design of IRIS which is a planned integral field spectrograph for the Thirty Meter Telescope.

A b s tra c t. -We report observations of the velocity field of the ionized gas in the nearby ellipticals NGC 1453, NGC 2974, NGC 3962, NGC 4636, NGC 6868 and NGC 7097. This is part of an ESO Key Programme intended to derive the mass distribution of elliptical galaxies and to investigate the possible presence of dark matter. A ll galaxy spectra are characterized by LINER-type emission. The derived gas kinematics confirm the picture of a regular gaseous disk structure with ordered rotation. The gas velocity dispersion profiles decline rapidly from a high central value in the range of = 150 to = 250 km/s.