The ING UK/NL Joint Steering Committee decided at its meeting in May
1998 to devote a substantial fraction of observing time on the INT to
survey observations. This decision followed from the Announcement of Opportunity which
was issued earlier in the year and met with a very good response. An
independent assessment panel recommended priorities and the amount of
observing time that should be devoted to these survey observations.
It was considered timely, given the advent of the Wide Field Camera, to
exploit this unique instrument extensively, in particular for survey
observations serving a wide community. This allows the telescope to
evolve in a way that takes into account the optimal use of the new
generation of large telescopes. In addition, severe budgetary constraints
on the operation of the ING telescopes forces the observatory to look
for more cost effective ways of running the telescopes. The survey
observations provide a step in this direction.
Observing time was granted under the condition that raw and reduced data
will be made available to the UK/NL community as quickly as possible
after the observations were taken, to allow fast exploitation of the
unique database.
Information on the successful survey applications, the observing schedule,
and details regarding access to the data can be found on INGs web pages.
Access to the raw data
obtained on the survey nights
is now available. Processed data will be made available approximately
one month after acquisition.
The survey makes use of the recently upgraded
Wide Field Camera of the 2.5-m Isaac Newton Telescope.
User notes on its operation give the zeropoints.