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CEERS Project Goals

CEERS will demonstrate, test, and validate efficient extragalactic surveys with coordinated, overlapping parallel observations with the JWST instrument suite. The observations, tests, and data products will pave the way for Cycle 2 observations.

CEERS will also address key JWST science goals, including:

  • constraining the abundance and physical nature of galaxies at z~9-13;
  • constraining the physical conditions of star-formation and black hole growth via line diagnostics of galaxies at z>3;
  • quantifying the first bulge and disk structures at z>3; and
  • characterizing galaxy mid-IR emission to study dust-obscured star-formation and supermassive black hole growth at z~1-3

CEERS will therefore enable immediate community science exploring both extragalactic JWST science drivers:

Observing Modes

CEERS will obtain imaging and spectroscopy of the EGS HST legacy field field with six parallel JWST instrument modes.

  • NIRCam imaging in 10 pointings, pairing the SW and LW filters
  • NIRCam grism observations in 4 pointings
  • NIRSpec R~1000 in 6 pointings
  • NIRSpec R~100 in 4 pointings
  • MIRI imaging in 6 pointings

The CEERS observations are schedulable in June and December (with a 180° flip). Note that the APT file linked below corresponds to the December window, though with an Oct 31, 2021, launch date CEERS would likely be scheduled in June 2022.

Download CEERS APT File (for December observations)
Download CEERS Public PDF

Community Products

The CEERS team will provide calibrated images and derived data products to the community in three planned releases. The planned data releases will include:

Pre-Cycle 1 (Launch + 5 months)

  • Mock raw images and spectra for JWST sources (see CEERS SDR1, SDR2 and SDR3)
  • Improved HST EGS mosaics and photometry catalogs (see CEERS HDR1)

Level 1 (Observations + 3 months)

  • Initial reduction (v0.5) of NIRCam and MIRI image mosaics (see CEERS DR0.5 and DR0.6)
  • Initial reduction (v0.5) of 2D and 1D NIRSpec and NIRCam grism spectra

Level 2 (Observations + 8 months)

  • Improved reductions (v1) of all imaging and spectroscopy
  • Preliminary PSF-matched NIRCam+HST photometric catalog
  • Preliminary PSF-matched MIRI photometric catalog
  • Preliminary spectroscopic catalog, including emission line fluxes and spectroscopic redshifts
  • A sample of z>9 candidates for community follow-up