COSMOS-Web: An Overview of the JWST Cosmic Origins Survey
Authors: Casey Caitlin M. , Kartaltepe Jeyhan S. , Drakos Nicole E. , Franco Maximilien , Harish Santosh , Paquereau Louise , Ilbert Olivier , Rose Caitlin , Cox Isabella G. , Nightingale James W. , Robertson Brant E. , Silverman John D. , Koekemoer Anton M. , Massey Richard , McCracken Henry Joy , Rhodes Jason , Akins Hollis B. , Allen Natalie , Amvrosiadis Aristeidis , Arango-Toro Rafael C. , Bagley Micaela B. , Bongiorno Angela , Capak Peter L. , Champagne Jaclyn B. , Chartab Nima , Chávez Ortiz Óscar A. , Chworowsky Katherine , Cooke Kevin C. , Cooper Olivia R. , Darvish Behnam , Ding Xuheng , Faisst Andreas L. , Finkelstein Steven L. , Fujimoto Seiji , Gentile Fabrizio , Gillman Steven , Gould Katriona M. L. , Gozaliasl Ghassem , Hayward Christopher C. , He Qiuhan , Hemmati Shoubaneh , Hirschmann Michaela , Jahnke Knud , Jin Shuowen , Khostovan Ali Ahmad , Kokorev Vasily , Lambrides Erini , Laigle Clotilde , Larson Rebecca L. , Leung Gene C. K. , Liu Daizhong , Liaudat Tobias , Long Arianna S. , Magdis Georgios , Mahler Guillaume , Mainieri Vincenzo , Manning Sinclaire M. , Maraston Claudia , Martin Crystal L. , McCleary Jacqueline E. , McKinney Jed , McPartland Conor J. R. , Mobasher Bahram , Pattnaik Rohan , Renzini Alvio , Rich R. Michael , Sanders David B. , Sattari Zahra , Scognamiglio Diana , Scoville Nick , Sheth Kartik , Shuntov Marko , Sparre Martin , Suzuki Tomoko L. , Talia Margherita , Toft Sune , Trakhtenbrot Benny , Urry C. Megan , Valentino Francesco , Vanderhoof Brittany N. , Vardoulaki Eleni , Weaver John R. , Whitaker Katherine E. , Wilkins Stephen M. , Yang Lilan , Zavala Jorge A. 
Published: August 2023

We present the survey design, implementation, and outlook for COSMOS-Web, a 255 hr treasury program conducted by the James Webb Space Telescope in its first cycle of observations. COSMOS-Web is a contiguous 0.54 deg2 NIRCam imaging survey in four filters (F115W, F150W, F277W, and F444W) that will reach 5σ point-source depths ranging ∼27.5–28.2 mag. In parallel, we will obtain 0.19 deg2 of MIRI imaging in one filter (F770W) reaching 5σ point-source depths of ∼25.3–26.0 mag. COSMOS-Web will build on the rich heritage of multiwavelength observations and data products available in the COSMOS field. The design of COSMOS-Web is motivated by three primary science goals: (1) to discover thousands of galaxies in the Epoch of Reionization (6 ≲ z ≲ 11) and map reionization’s spatial distribution, environments, and drivers on scales sufficiently large to mitigate cosmic variance, (2) to identify hundreds of rare quiescent galaxies at z > 4 and place constraints on the formation of the universe’s most-massive galaxies (M
⋆ > 1010
M
⊙), and (3) directly measure the evolution of the stellar-mass-to-halo-mass relation using weak gravitational lensing out to z ∼ 2.5 and measure its variance with galaxies’ star formation histories and morphologies. In addition, we anticipate COSMOS-Web’s legacy value to reach far beyond these scientific goals, touching many other areas of astrophysics, such as the identification of the first direct collapse black hole candidates, ultracool subdwarf stars in the Galactic halo, and possibly the identification of z > 10 pair-instability supernovae. In this paper we provide an overview of the survey’s key measurements, specifications, goals, and prospects for new discovery.