Alex Drlica-Wagner
(Fermilab), James Annis
(Fermilab), Marcelle Soares-Santos
(Fermilab)
Description
The goal of this workshop is to make progress on science analyses using data from the Blanco Images of the Southern Sky (BLISS) survey. BLISS aims to establish complete griz Blanco/DECam coverage of the extra-galactic sky below declination 30 degrees with 3x90 second exposures by selectively imaging areas where such coverage is lacking. Three areas of ongoing activities are:
multi-messenger astronomy with gravitational waves,
searches for the hypothesized 9th planet in our solar system, and
completion of the deepest unbiased survey of Milky Way satellite galaxies in the southern hemisphere.
Other science areas will also be pursued by the group, e.g.:
search for lensed quasars
galaxy clusters
photometric redshifts
variable stars
BLISS optimizes data taking efficiency by filling the sky around previously surveyed areas and other community time programs, complementing them with additional bands and/or depth as needed. Accomplishing full sky coverage before the start of LSST is essential to maximize the science returns of DECam.
BLISS images are made publicly available immediately. A series of public data releases of processed images and catalogs are also being planned and will be discussed at the workshop.