The miniJPAS survey: A preview of the Universe in 56 colors

The Javalambre-Physics of the Accelerating Universe Astrophysical Survey (J-PAS) will scan thousands of square degrees of the northern sky with a unique set of 56 filters using the dedicated 2:55m Javalambre Survey Telescope (JST) at the Javalambre Astrophysical Observatory. Prior to the installation of the main camera (4:2 deg2 field-of-view with 1.2 Gpixels), the JST was equipped with the JPAS-Pathfinder, a one CCD camera with a 0:3 deg2 field-of-view and plate scale of 0.23 arcsec pixel?1. To demonstrate the scientific potential of J-PAS, the JPAS-Pathfinder camera was used to perform miniJPAS, a _1 deg2 survey of the AEGIS field (along the Extended Groth Strip). The field was observed with the 56 J-PAS filters, which include 54 narrow band (FWHM _ 145 ) and two broader filters extending to the UV and the near-infrared, complemented by the u; g; r; i SDSS broad band filters. In this miniJPAS survey overview paper, we present the miniJPAS data set (images and catalogs), as we highlight key aspects and applications of these unique spectro-photometric data and describe how to access the public data products. The data parameters reach depths of magAB ' 22?23:5 in the 54 narrow band filters and up to 24 in the broader filters (5_ in a 300 aperture). The miniJPAS primary catalog contains more than 64 000 sources detected in the r band and with matched photometry in all other bands. This catalog is 99% complete at r = 23:6 (r = 22:7) mag for point-like (extended) sources. We show that our photometric redshifts have an accuracy better than 1% for all sources up to r = 22:5, and a precision of _0:3% for a subset consisting of about half of the sample. On this basis, we outline several scientific applications of our data, including the study of spatially-resolved stellar populations of nearby galaxies, the analysis of the large scale structure up to z _ 0:9, and the detection of large numbers of clusters and groups. Sub-percent redshift precision can also be reached for quasars, allowing for the study of the large-scale structure to be pushed to z 2. The miniJPAS survey demonstrates the capability of the J-PAS filter system to accurately characterize a broad variety of sources and paves the way for the upcoming arrival of J-PAS, which will multiply this data by three orders of magnitude.