Title: SCABS: A Survey of Centaurus A's Baryonic Structures

Abstract:
First results of the "SCABS: A Survey of Centaurus A's Baryonic Structures" project will be 
presented. SCABS utilizes the Dark Energy Camera on the 4m Victor Blanco telescope to 
image NGC 5128 (Centaurus A) in the optical u'g'r'i'z' bands to depths of u'=24.50, g'=23.72, 
r'=23.12, i'=22.95 and z'=22.75 AB mags out to the ~300 kpc virial radius for the first time at 
these depths. These observations will identify >99% of globular clusters (GCs), ultra-compact 
dwarfs, and low-surface brightness features (e.g. dwarf galaxies and tidal streams) associated 
with NGC 5128 down to ~25 mag/sq. arcsec in the V-band. These data will place strong 
constraints on the assembly/merger history of NGC 5128 by identifying GC spatial over-
densities, low-surface brightness tidal features and unique GC age/metallicity distribution 
functions. SCABS will also present new near-field cosmological applications via the 10-100 new 
dwarf galaxies expected to be in the region. Additionally, new high redshift background targets 
will be identified for future follow-up studies, making SCABS applicable to many areas of 
research. This talk will summarize the data, present preliminary results from colour-colour 
diagrams and propose the myriad applications of SCABS for various astrophysical fields of 
study.