Abstract
We give an overview and describe the rationale, methods, and first results
from NIRCam images of the JWST "Prime Extragalactic Areas for Reionization and
Lensing Science" ("PEARLS") project. PEARLS uses up to eight NIRCam filters to
survey several prime extragalactic survey areas: two fields at the North
Ecliptic Pole (NEP); seven gravitationally lensing clusters; two high redshift
proto-clusters; and the iconic backlit VV~191 galaxy system to map its dust
attenuation. PEARLS also includes NIRISS spectra for one of the NEP fields and
NIRSpec spectra of two high-redshift quasars. The main goal of PEARLS is to
study the epoch of galaxy assembly, AGN growth, and First Light. Five fields,
the JWST NEP Time-Domain Field (TDF), IRAC Dark Field (IDF), and three lensing
clusters, will be observed in up to four epochs over a year. The cadence and
sensitivity of the imaging data are ideally suited to find faint variable
objects such as weak AGN, high-redshift supernovae, and cluster caustic
transits. Both NEP fields have sightlines through our Galaxy, providing
significant numbers of very faint brown dwarfs whose proper motions can be
studied. Observations from the first spoke in the NEP TDF are public. This
paper presents our first PEARLS observations, their NIRCam data reduction and
analysis, our first object catalogs, the 0.9-4.5 $\mu$m galaxy counts and
Integrated Galaxy Light. We assess the JWST sky brightness in 13 NIRCam
filters, yielding our first constraints to diffuse light at 0.9-4.5 $\mu$m.
PEARLS is designed to be of lasting benefit to the community.
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