# The Hyper Suprime-Cam SSP Survey: Overview and Survey Design

## TL;DR

The Hyper Suprime-Cam SSP Survey is a comprehensive multi-layer imaging project on the Subaru telescope aiming to map the high-latitude sky with unprecedented depth and coverage, enabling diverse scientific investigations.

## Contribution

This paper introduces the survey design, instrument, and strategy of the HSC SSP survey, providing foundational context for subsequent scientific results.

## Key findings

- Survey covers 1400 deg$^2$ in five bands with $r \,\approx 26$ depth
- Deep and UltraDeep layers reach fainter magnitudes in smaller areas
- The survey facilitates a wide range of astrophysical research

## Abstract

Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) is a wide-field imaging camera on the prime focus of the 8.2m Subaru telescope on the summit of Maunakea in Hawaii. A team of scientists from Japan, Taiwan and Princeton University is using HSC to carry out a 300-night multi-band imaging survey of the high-latitude sky. The survey includes three layers: the Wide layer will cover 1400 deg$^2$ in five broad bands ($grizy$), with a $5\,\sigma$ point-source depth of $r \approx 26$. The Deep layer covers a total of 26~deg$^2$ in four fields, going roughly a magnitude fainter, while the UltraDeep layer goes almost a magnitude fainter still in two pointings of HSC (a total of 3.5 deg$^2$). Here we describe the instrument, the science goals of the survey, and the survey strategy and data processing. This paper serves as an introduction to a special issue of the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan, which includes a large number of technical and scientific papers describing results from the early phases of this survey.