Abstract.Since the Hipparcos mission and recent large scale surveys in the optical and the near-infrared, new constraints have been obtained on the structure and evolution history of the Milky Way. The population synthesis approach is a useful tool to interpret such data sets and to test scenarios of evolution of the Galaxy. We present here new constraints on evolution parameters obtained from the Besançon model of population synthesis and analysis of optical and near-infrared star counts. The Galactic potential is computed self-consistently, in agreement with Hipparcos results and the observed rotation curve. Constraints are posed on the outer bulge structure, the warped and flared disc, the thick disc and the spheroid populations. The model is tuned to produce reliable predictions in the visible and the near-infrared in wide photometric bands from U to K. Finally, we describe applications such as photometric and astrometric simulations and a new classification tool based on a Bayesian probability estimator, which could be used in the framework of Virtual Observatories. As examples, samples of simulated star counts at different wavelengths and directions are also given.

Context. The Frontier Fields survey is a pioneering observational program aimed at collecting photometric data, both from space (Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer Space Telescope) and from ground-based facilities (VLT Hawk-I), for six deep fields pointing at clusters of galaxies and six nearby deep parallel fields, in a wide range of passbands. The analysis of these data is a natural outcome of the Astrodeep project, an EU collaboration aimed at developing methods and tools for extragalactic photometry and creating valuable public photometric catalogues. Aims. We produce multiwavelength photometric catalogues (from B to 4.5 µm) for the first two of the Frontier Fields, Abell-2744 and MACS-J0416 (plus their parallel fields). Methods. To detect faint sources even in the central regions of the clusters, we develop a robust and repeatable procedure that uses the public codes Galapagos and Galfit to model and remove most of the light contribution from both the brightest cluster members, and the intra-cluster light. We perform the detection on the processed HST H160 image to obtain a pure H-selected sample, which is the primary catalogue that we publish. We also add a sample of sources which are undetected in the H160 image but appear on a stacked infrared image. Photometry on the other HST bands is obtained using SExtractor, again on processed images after the procedure for foreground light removal. Photometry on the Hawk-I and IRAC bands is obtained using our PSF-matching deconfusion code t-phot. A similar procedure, but without the need for the foreground light removal, is adopted for the Parallel fields.Results. The procedure of foreground light subtraction allows for the detection and the photometric measurements of ∼2500 sources per field. We deliver and release complete photometric H-detected catalogues, with the addition of the complementary sample of infrared-detected sources. All objects have multiwavelength coverage including B to H HST bands, plus K-band from Hawk-I, and 3.6−4.5 µm from Spitzer. full and detailed treatment of photometric errors is included. We perform basic sanity checks on the reliability of our results. Conclusions. The multiwavelength photometric catalogues are available publicly and are ready to be used for scientific purposes. Our procedures allows for the detection of outshone objects near the bright galaxies, which, coupled with the magnification effect of the clusters, can reveal extremely faint high redshift sources. Full analysis on photometric redshifts is presented in Paper II.

Aims. We present the first public release of photometric redshifts, galaxy rest frame properties and associated magnification values in the cluster and parallel pointings of the first two Frontier Fields, Abell-2744 and MACS-J0416. The released catalogues aim to provide a reference for future investigations of extragalactic populations in these legacy fields: from lensed high-redshift galaxies to cluster members themselves. Methods. We exploit a multiwavelength catalogue, ranging from Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to ground-based K and Spitzer IRAC, which is specifically designed to enable detection and measurement of accurate fluxes in crowded cluster regions. The multiband information is used to derive photometric redshifts and physical properties of sources detected either in the H-band image alone, or from a stack of four WFC3 bands. To minimize systematics, median photometric redshifts are assembled from six different approaches to photo-z estimates. Their reliability is assessed through a comparison with available spectroscopic samples. State-of-the-art lensing models are used to derive magnification values on an object-by-object basis by taking into account sources positions and redshifts. Results. We show that photometric redshifts reach a remarkable ∼3-5% accuracy. After accounting for magnification, the H-band number counts are found to be in agreement at bright magnitudes with number counts from the CANDELS fields, while extending the presently available samples to galaxies that, intrinsically, are as faint as H ∼ 32−33, thanks to strong gravitational lensing. The Frontier Fields allow the galaxy stellar mass distribution to be probed, depending on magnification, at 0.5-1.5 dex lower masses with respect to extragalactic wide fields, including sources at M star ∼ 10 7 -10 8 M at z > 5. Similarly, they allow the detection of objects with intrinsic star formation rates (SFRs) >1 dex lower than in the CANDELS fields reaching 0.1-1 M /yr at z ∼ 6-10.

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Context. The advent of deep multiwavelength extragalactic surveys has led to the necessity for advanced and fast methods for photometric analysis. In fact, codes which allow analyses of the same regions of the sky observed at different wavelengths and resolutions are becoming essential to thoroughly exploit current and future data. In this context, a key issue is the confusion (i.e. blending) of sources in low-resolution images.Aims. We present -, a publicly available software package developed within the  project. - is aimed at extracting accurate photometry from low-resolution images, where the blending of sources can be a serious problem for the accurate and unbiased measurement of fluxes and colours.Methods. - can be considered as the next generation to , providing significant improvements over and above it and other similar codes (e.g. ). - gathers data from a high-resolution image of a region of the sky, and uses this information (source positions and morphologies) to obtain priors for the photometric analysis of the lower resolution image of the same field. - can handle different types of datasets as input priors, namely i) a list of objects that will be used to obtain cutouts from the real high-resolution image; ii) a set of analytical models (as .fits stamps); iii) a list of unresolved, point-like sources, useful for example for far-infrared (FIR) wavelength domains.Results. By means of simulations and analysis of real datasets, we show that - yields accurate estimations of fluxes within the intrinsic uncertainties of the method, when systematic errors are taken into account (which can be done thanks to a flagging code given in the output). - is many times faster than similar codes like  and  (up to hundreds, depending on the problem and the method adopted), whilst at the same time being more robust and more versatile. This makes it an excellent choice for the analysis of large datasets. When used with the same parameter sets as for  it yields almost identical results (although in a much shorter time); in addition we show how the use of different settings and methods significantly enhances the performance.Conclusions. - proves to be a state-of-the-art tool for multiwavelength optical to far-infrared image photometry. Given its versatility and robustness, - can be considered the preferred choice for combined photometric analysis of current and forthcoming extragalactic imaging surveys.

We search for passive galaxies at z>3 in the GOODS-South field, using different techniques based on photometric data, and paying attention to develop methods that are sensitive to objects that have become passive shortly before the epoch of observation. We use CANDELS HST catalogues, ultra-deep K s data and new IRAC photometry, performing spectral energy distribution fitting using models with abruptly quenched star formation histories. We then single out galaxies which are best fitted by a passively evolving model, and having only low probability (<5%) star-forming solutions. We verify the effects of including nebular lines emission, and we consider possible solutions at different redshifts. The number of selected sources dramatically depends on the models used in the SED fitting. Without including emission lines and with photometric redshifts fixed at the CANDELS estimate, we single out 30 candidates; the inclusion of nebular lines emission reduces the sample to 10 objects; allowing for solutions at different redshifts, only 2 galaxies survive as robust candidates. Most of the candidates are not far-infrared emitters, corroborating their association with passive galaxies. Our results translate into an upper limit in the number density of ∼0.173 arcmin 2 above the detection limit. However, we conclude that the selection of passive galaxies at z>3 is still subject to significant uncertainties, being sensitive to assumptions in the SED modeling adopted and to the relatively low S/N of the objects. By means of dedicated simulations, we show that JWST will greatly enhance the accuracy, allowing for a much more robust classification.

The Survey Science Centre of the XMM-Newton satellite released the first incremental version of the 2XMM catalogue in August 2008. Containing more than 220 000 X-ray sources, the 2XMMi was at that time the largest catalogue of X-ray sources ever published and thus constitutes an unprecedented resource for studying the high-energy properties of various classes of X-ray emitters such as AGN and stars. Thanks to the high throughput of the EPIC cameras on board XMM-Newton accurate positions, fluxes, and hardness ratios are available for a substantial fraction of the X-ray detections. The advent of the 7th release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey offers the opportunity to cross-match two major surveys and extend the spectral energy distribution of many 2XMMi sources towards the optical bands. This implies building extensive homogeneous samples with a statistically controlled rate of spurious matches and completeness. We here present a cross-matching algorithm based on the classical likelihood ratio estimator. The method developed has the advantage of providing true probabilities of identifications without resorting to heavy Monte-Carlo simulations. Over 30,000 2XMMi sources have SDSS counterparts with individual probabilities of identification higher than 90%. At this threshold, the sample has only 2% spurious matches and contains 77% of all expected SDSS identifications. Using spectroscopic identifications from the SDSS DR7 catalogue supplemented by extraction from other catalogues, we build an identified sample from which the way the various classes of X-ray emitters gather in the multi dimensional parameter space can be analysed and later used to design a source classification scheme. We illustrate the interest of this clean source sample by investigating two scientific use cases. In the first example we show how these multi-wavelength data can be used to search for new QSO2s. Although no specific range of observed properties allows us to efficiently identify Compton Thick QSO2s, we show that the prospects are much better for Compton Thin AGN2 and discuss several possible multi-parameter selection strategies. In a second example, we confirm the hardening of the mean X-ray spectrum with increasing X-ray luminosity on a sample of over 500 X-ray active stars and reveal that on average X-ray active M stars display bluer g − r colour indexes than less active ones. Although this catalogue of 2XMM-SDSS sources cannot be used directly for statistical studies, it nevertheless represents an excellent starting point to select well defined samples of X-ray-emitting objects.

Improving the capabilities of detecting faint X-ray sources is fundamental to increase the statistics on faint high-z AGN and star-forming galaxies. We performed a simultaneous Maximum Likelihood PSF fit in the [0.5-2] keV and [2][3][4][5][6][7] keV energy bands of the 4 Ms Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS) data at the position of the 34930 CANDELS H-band selected galaxies. For each detected source we provide X-ray photometry and optical counterpart validation. We validated this technique by means of a raytracing simulation. We detected a total of 698 X-ray point-sources with a likelihood L>4.98 (i.e. >2.7σ). We show that the prior knowledge of a deep sample of Optical-NIR galaxies leads to a significant increase of the detection of faint (i.e. ∼10−17 cgs in the [0.5-2] keV band) sources with respect to "blind" X-ray detections. By including previous X-ray catalogs, this work increases the total number of X-ray sources detected in the 4 Ms CDFS, CANDELS area to 793, which represents the largest sample of extremely faint X-ray sources assembled to date. Our results suggest that a large fraction of the optical counterparts of our X-ray sources determined by likelihood ratio actually coincides with the priors used for the source detection. Most of the new detected sources are likely star-forming galaxies or faint absorbed AGN. We identified a few sources sources with putative photometric redshift z>4. Despite the low number statistics and the uncertainties on the photo-z, this sample significantly increases the number of X-ray selected candidate high-z AGN.