The Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey (CEERS)

Authors

• Steven L. Finkelstein, University of Texas at Austin
• Micaela B. Bagley, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
• Pablo Arrabal Haro, NOIRLab
• Mark Dickinson, NOIRLab
• Henry C. Ferguson, Space Telescope Science Institute
• Jeyhan S. Kartaltepe, Rochester Institute of Technology
• Dale D. Kocevski, Colby College
• Anton M. Koekemoer, Space Telescope Science Institute
• Jennifer M. Lotz, Space Telescope Science Institute
• Casey Papovich, Texas A&M University
• Pablo G. Pérez-González, CSIC-INTA - Centro de Astrobiología (CAB)
• Nor Pirzkal, ESA/AURA Space Telescope Science Institute
• Rachel S. Somerville, Simons Foundation
• Jonathan R. Trump, University of Connecticut
• Guang Yang, Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics & Technology
• L.Y. Aaron Yung, Space Telescope Science Institute
• Adriano Fontana, Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma
• Andrea Grazian, Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova
• Norman A. Grogin, Space Telescope Science Institute
• Lisa J. Kewley, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
• Allison Kirkpatrick, University of Kansas

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Astrophysical Journal Letters

Department

Physics

ISSN

20418213

Volume

983

Issue

1

DOI

10.3847/2041-8213/adbbd3

First Page

1

Last Page

29

Publication Date

4-3-2025

Abstract

We present the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) Survey, a 77.2 hr Director’s Discretionary Early Release Science Program. CEERS demonstrates, tests, and validates efficient extragalactic surveys using coordinated, overlapping parallel observations with the JWST instrument suite, including NIRCam and MIRI imaging, NIRSpec low- (R ∼ 100) and medium- (R ∼ 1000) resolution spectroscopy, and NIRCam slitless grism (R ∼ 1500) spectroscopy. CEERS targets the Hubble Space Telescope-observed region of the Extended Groth Strip field, supported by a rich set of multiwavelength data. CEERS facilitated immediate community science in both of the extragalactic core JWST science drivers “First Light” and “Galaxy Assembly,” including: (1) the discovery and characterization of large samples of galaxies at z ≳ 10 from ∼90 arcmin² of NIRCam imaging, constraining their abundance and physical nature; (2) deep spectra of >1000 galaxies, including dozens of galaxies at 6 < z < 10, enabling redshift measurements and constraints on the physical conditions of star formation and black hole growth via line diagnostics; (3) quantifying the first bulge, bar, and disk structures at z > 3; and (4) characterizing galaxy mid-IR emission with MIRI to study dust-obscured star formation and supermassive black hole growth at z ∼ 1-3. As a legacy product for the community, the CEERS team has provided several data releases, accompanied by detailed notes on the data reduction procedures and notebooks to aid in reproducibility. In addition to an overview of the survey and the quality of the data, we provide science highlights from the first two years with CEERS data.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Finkelstein, Steven L.; Bagley, Micaela B.; Arrabal Haro, Pablo; Dickinson, Mark; Ferguson, Henry C.; Kartaltepe, Jeyhan S.; Kocevski, Dale D.; Koekemoer, Anton M.; Lotz, Jennifer M.; Papovich, Casey; Pérez-González, Pablo G.; Pirzkal, Nor; Somerville, Rachel S.; Trump, Jonathan R.; Yang, Guang; Yung, L.Y. Aaron; Fontana, Adriano; Grazian, Andrea; Grogin, Norman A.; Kewley, Lisa J.; and Kirkpatrick, Allison, "The Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey (CEERS)" (2025). Pacific Faculty Work. 99.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/all-faculty/99