Observations of the Hubble Deep Field with the Infrared Space Observatory - I. Data reduction, maps and sky coverage

Abstract

We present deep imaging at 6.7 micron and 15 micron from the CAM instrument\non the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO), centred on the Hubble Deep Field\n(HDF). These are the deepest integrations published to date at these\nwavelengths in any region of sky. We discuss the observation strategy and the\ndata reduction. The observed source density appears to approach the CAM\nconfusion limit at 15 micron, and fluctuations in the 6.7 micron sky background\nmay be identifiable with similar spatial fluctuations in the HDF galaxy counts.\nISO appears to be detecting comparable field galaxy populations to the HDF, and\nour data yields strong evidence that future IR missions (such as SIRTF, FIRST\nand WIRE) as well as SCUBA and millimetre arrays will easily detect field\ngalaxies out to comparably high redshifts.\n