Tuesday, 27th November at 3.30pm @ the JAC

ABSTRACT: UKIDSS is the next generation near-infrared sky survey using the WFCAM at UKIRT, and It began in Spring 2005 and comprises 5 sub-surveys. It will take 7 years to complete and cover a wide range of areas and depths. I will present the deepest of these, the Ultra-Deep Survey (UDS), which aims to cover 0.8 sq degrees to a depth of K=23, H=24, J=25 (Vega). I will detail the dedicated data reduction procedure that we use and which differs partially from the other UKIDSS surveys. I will describe also the most recent data set that is available to the ESO community. The UDS is a fully multi-wavelength survey and I will list and describe some of the associated surveys, focusing on the recent spectroscopic follow up awarded to us using the VIMOS and FORS VLT facilities. Finally, I will introduce the most recent work that I am leading (thanks to this survey) which describes the properties of very massive galaxies at z = 1-2 and derives conclusions on the formation and evolution of the most massive galaxies found since the early age of our universe.