Search

We apply a matched-filter cluster detection algorithm to the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey (CFHTLS) i-band data for the Deep-1, Deep-2, Deep-3 and Deep-4 fields covering a total of 4square degrees. To test the implemented procedure we carry out simulations for assessing the frequency of noise peaks as well as estimate the recovery efficiency. We estimate that up to z~0.7 the catalogue is essentially complete for clusters of richness class R>~1. The recovered redshifts are in general overestimated by dz=0.1 with a scatter of sigma_dz~0.1, except at redshifts z>~1 where the estimated redshifts are systematically underestimated. The constructed cluster candidate catalogue contains 162 detections over an effective area of 3.112 square degrees corresponding to a density of ~52.1 per square degree. The median estimated redshift of the candidates is z=0.6. The estimated noise frequency is 16.9+-5.4 detections per square degree. From visual inspection we identify systems that show a clear concentration of galaxies with similar colour. These systems have a density of ~20 per square degree., Comment: 15 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in A&A, a full resolution copy of the paper can be retrieved from http://www.dark-cosmology.dk/~lisbeth/papers/6088.pdf

This paper presents new five passbands (UBVRI) optical wide-field imaging data accumulated as part of the DEEP Public Survey (DPS) carried out as a public survey by the ESO Imaging Survey (EIS) project. Out of the 3 square degrees originally proposed, the survey covers 2.75 square degrees, in at least one band (normally R), and 1.00 square degrees in five passbands. The median seeing, as measured in the final stacked images, is 0.97", ranging from 0.75" to 2.0". The median limiting magnitudes (AB system, 2" aperture, 5 sigma detection limit) are U_(AB)=25.65, B_(AB)=25.54, V_(AB)=25.18, R_(AB) = 24.8 and I_(AB)=24.12 mag, consistent with those proposed in the original survey design. The paper describes the observations and data reduction using the EIS Data Reduction System and its associated EIS/MVM library. The quality of the individual images were inspected, bad images discarded and the remaining used to produce final image stacks in each passband, from which sources have been extracted. Finally, the scientific quality of these final images and associated catalogs was assessed qualitatively by visual inspection and quantitatively by comparison of statistical measures derived from these data with those of other authors as well as model predictions, and from direct comparison with the results obtained from the reduction of the same dataset using an independent (hands-on) software system. Finally to illustrate one application of this survey, the results of a preliminary effort to identify sub-mJy radio sources are reported. To the limiting magnitude reached in the R and I passbands the success rate ranges from 66 to 81% (depending on the fields). These data are publicly available at CDS., Comment: 24 pages, 26 figures. Accepted for pubblication in A&A

This paper presents new J and Ks data obtained from observations conducted at the ESO 3.5m New Technology Telescope using the SOFI camera. These data were taken as part of the ESO Imaging Survey Deep Public Survey (DPS) and significantly extend the earlier optical/infrared EIS-DEEP survey presented in a previous paper. The DPS-IR survey comprises two observing strategies: shallow Ks observations providing nearly full coverage of pointings with complementary multi-band optical data and deeper J and Ks observations of the central parts of these fields. The DPS-IR survey provides a coverage of roughly 2.1 square degrees in Ks with 0.63 square degrees to fainter magnitudes and also covered in J, over three independent regions of the sky. The goal of the present paper is to describe the observations, the data reduction procedures, and to present the final survey products. The astrometric solution with an estimated accuracy of <0.15" is based on the USNO catalog. The final stacked images presented here number 89 and 272, in J and Ks, respectively, the latter reflecting the larger surveyed area. The J and Ks images were taken with a median seeing of 0.77" and 0.8". The images reach a median 5sigma limiting magnitude of J_AB~23.06 in an aperture of 2", while the corresponding limiting magnitude in Ks_AB is ~21.41 and ~22.16 mag for the shallow and deep strategies. Overall, the observed limiting magnitudes are consistent with those originally proposed. The quality of the data has been assessed by comparing the measured magnitude of sources at the bright end directly with those reported by the 2MASS survey and at the faint end by comparing the counts of galaxies and stars with those of other surveys to comparable depth and to model predictions. The final science-grade catalogs and images are available at CDS., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 14 pages, 8 figures, a full resolution version of the paper is available from http://www.astro.ku.dk/~lisbeth/eisdata/papers/5019.pdf

This paper presents infrared data obtained from observations carried out at the ESO 3.5m New Technology Telescope (NTT) of the Hubble Deep Field South (HDF-S) and the Chandra Deep Field South (CDF-S). These data were taken as part of the ESO Imaging Survey (EIS) program, a public survey conducted by ESO to promote follow-up observations with the VLT. In the HDF-S field the infrared observations cover an area of ~53 square arcmin, encompassing the HST WFPC2 and STIS fields, in the JHKs passbands. The seeing measured in the final stacked images ranges from 0.79" to 1.22" and the median limiting magnitudes (AB system, 2" aperture, 5sigma detection limit) are J_AB~23.0, H_AB~22.8 and K_AB~23.0 mag. Less complete data are also available in JKs for the adjacent HST NICMOS field. For CDF-S, the infrared observations cover a total area of \~100 square arcmin, reaching median limiting magnitudes (as defined above) of J_AB~23.6 and K_AB~22.7 mag. For one CDF-S field H-band data are also available. This paper describes the observations and presents the results of new reductions carried out entirely through the un-supervised, high-throughput EIS Data Reduction System and its associated EIS/MVM C++-based image processing library developed, over the past 5 years, by the EIS project and now publicly available. The paper also presents source catalogs extracted from the final co-added images which are used to evaluate the scientific quality of the survey products, and hence the performance of the software. This is done comparing the results obtained in the present work with those obtained by other authors from independent data and/or reductions carried out with different software packages and techniques. The final science-grade catalogs and co-added images are available at CDS., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 13 pages, 12 figures; a full resolution version of the paper is available from http://www.astro.ku.dk/~lisbeth/eisdata/papers/4528.pdf ; related catalogs and images are available through http://www.astro.ku.dk/~lisbeth/eisdata/

We have combined deep BRIz' imaging over 2x940 arcmin^2 fields obtained with the Suprime-Cam on the Subaru telescope with JKs imaging with the SOFI camera at the New Technology Telescope to search for high-redshift massive galaxies. K-band selected galaxies have been identified over an area of ~920 arcmin^2 to K_Vega=19.2, of which 320 arcmin^2 are complete to K_Vega=20. The BzK selection technique was used to obtain complete samples of ~500 candidate massive star-forming galaxies (sBzKs) and ~160 candidate massive, passively-evolving galaxies (pBzKs), both at 1.4 5 criterion we also identified ~850 extremely red objects (EROs). The surface density of sBzKs and pBzKs is found to 1.20+/-0.05 arcmin^{-2} and 0.38+/-0.03 arcmin^{-2}, respectively. Both sBzKs and pBzKs are strongly clustered, at a level at least comparable to that of EROs, with pBzKs appearing more clustered than sBzKs. We estimate the reddening, star formation rates (SFRs) and stellar masses (M_*) of the sBzKs, confirming that to K_Vega~20 median values are M_*~10^{11}M_sun, SFR 190M_sun yr^{-1}, and E(B-V)~0.44. The most massive sBzKs are also the most actively star-forming, an effect which can be seen as a manifestation of downsizing at early epochs. The space density of massive pBzKs at z~1.4-2 is 20%+/-7% that of similarly massive early-type galaxies at z~0, and similar to that of sBzKs of the same mass. We argue that star formation quenching in these sBzKs will result in nearly doubling the space density of massive early-type galaxies, thus matching their local density., Comment: 19 pages, 13 figures, accepted by ApJ. While checking the proofs we became aware of a material mistake of non-trivial scientific relevance. In the original it was reported that the comoving volume density of passive BzK-selected galaxies with =1.7 and more massive than 10^{11}M_sun was 45%+/-15% of the local number density of similarly massive early-type galaxies. This fraction actually turns out to be 20%+/-7%. Section 6.4, point 5 in section 7, and the abstract have been modified accordingly

(Abridged) This paper presents the data recently released for the XMM-Newton/WFI survey carried out as part of the ESO Imaging Survey (EIS) project. The aim of this survey is to provide optical imaging follow-up data in BVRI for identification of serendipitously detected X-ray sources in selected XMM-Newton fields. In this paper, fully calibrated individual and stacked images of 12 fields as well as science-grade catalogs for the 8 fields located at high-galactic latitude are presented. The data covers an area of \sim 3 square degrees for each of the four passbands. The median limiting magnitudes (AB system, 2" aperture, 5\sigma detection limit) are 25.20, 24.92, 24.66, and 24.39 mag for B-, V-, R-, and I-band, respectively. These survey products, together with their logs, are available to the community for science exploitation in conjunction with their X-ray counterparts. Preliminary results from the X-ray/optical cross-correlation analysis show that about 61% of the detected X-ray point sources in deep XMM-Newton exposures have at least one optical counterpart within 2" radius down to R \simeq 25 mag, 50% of which are so faint as to require VLT observations thereby meeting one of the top requirements of the survey, namely to produce large samples for spectroscopic follow-up with the VLT, whereas only 15% of the objects have counterparts down to the DSS limiting magnitude., Comment: 24 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics. Accompanying data releases available at http://archive.eso.org/archive/public_datasets.html (WFI images), http://www.eso.org/science/eis/surveys/release_65000025_XMM.html (optical catalogs), http://www.aip.de/groups/xray/XMM_EIS/ (X-ray data). Full resolution version available at http://www.astro.uni-bonn.de/~dietrich/publications/3785.ps.gz

We present new spectroscopic data in the field of five high-redshift (z>=0.6) candidate galaxy clusters, drawn from the EIS Cluster Candidate Catalog. A total of 327 spectra were obtained using FORS1 at the VLT, out of which 266 are galaxies with secure redshifts. In this paper, we use these data for confirming the existence of overdensities in redshift space at the approximate same location as the matched-filter detections in the projected distribution of galaxies from the EIS I-band imaging survey. The spectroscopic redshifts, associated to these overdensities, are consistent but, in general, somewhat lower than those predicted by the matched-filter technique. Combining the systems presented here with those analyzed earlier, we have spectroscopically confirmed a total of nine overdensities in the redshift range 0.6

We have carried out an investigation of the properties of low redshift EIS clusters using both spectroscopy and imaging data. We present new redshifts for 738 galaxies in 21 ESO Imaging Survey (EIS) Cluster fields. We use the ``gap''-technique to search for significant overdensities in redshift space and to identify groups/clusters of galaxies corresponding to the original EIS matched filter cluster candidates. In this way we spectroscopically confirm 20 of the 21 cluster candidates with a matched-filter estimated redshift z_MF=0.2. We have now obtained spectroscopic redshifts for 34 EIS cluster candidates with z_MF=0.2 (see also Hansen et al., 2002; Olsen et al., 2003). Of those we spectroscopically confirm 32 with redshifts ranging from z=0.064 to 0.283. We find that: 1) the velocity dispersions of the systems range from sigma_v<=130km/s to sigma_v=1200km/s, typical of galaxy groups to rich clusters; 2) richnesses corresponding to Abell classes R<=1; and 3) concentration indices ranging from C=0.2 to C=1.2. From the analysis of the colours of the galaxy populations we find that 53% of the spectroscopically confirmed systems have a ``significant'' red sequence. These systems are on average richer and have higher velocity dispersions. We find that the colour of the red sequence galaxies matches passive stellar evolution predictions., Comment: 24 pages, accepted for publication in A&A

We present our image processing system for the reduction of optical imaging data from multi-chip cameras. In the framework of the Garching Bonn Deep Survey (GaBoDS; Schirmer et al. 2003) consisting of about 20 square degrees of high-quality data from WFI@MPG/ESO 2.2m, our group developed an imaging pipeline for the homogeneous and efficient processing of this large data set. Having weak gravitational lensing as the main science driver, our algorithms are optimised to produce deep co-added mosaics from individual exposures obtained from empty field observations. However, the modular design of our pipeline allows an easy adaption to different scientific applications. Our system has already been ported to a large variety of optical instruments and its products have been used in various scientific contexts. In this paper we give a thorough description of the algorithms used and a careful evaluation of the accuracies reached. This concerns the removal of the instrumental signature, the astrometric alignment, photometric calibration and the characterisation of final co-added mosaics. In addition we give a more general overview on the image reduction process and comment on observing strategies where they have significant influence on the data quality., Comment: 34 pages, 33 figures; submitted to A&A main journal

We present the results of carrying out multi-object spectroscopy in 10 EIS cluster fields. Based on the list of 345 galaxy redshifts we identify significant 3D-density enhancements. For 9 of the EIS clusters we identify significant 3D-concentrations corresponding to the originally detected cluster candidate. We find redshifts in the range 0.097<=z<=0.257 which is in good agreement with the matched filter estimate of z_MF=0.2. We estimate velocity dispersions in the range 219-1160 km/s for the confirmed clusters., Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics

We present here a study of XMM-Newton data of two distant galaxy cluster candidates. One of these was discovered serendipitously in near infrared data, CL J0533-2411, the other one corresponds to the cluster EIS J0533-2412 part of the EIS cluster survey. The estimated redshift of CL J0533-2411 is z=1.2-1.7. EIS J0533-2412 is a rich system (Lambda_cl=299), with a spectroscopically confirmed redshift of z=1.3. Both galaxy concentrations show firm X-ray detections, located within 30" of their optical center. However, we cannot resolve the sources with XMM-Newton. If the X-ray emission originates from the X-ray emitting intra-cluster medium (ICM) it would be extremely concentrated which is rather unlikely (core radii below 14 h_{65}^{-1}kpc and 40 h_{65}^{-1}kpc, respectively). We argue that the X-ray sources are more likely AGN members of the galaxy concentrations. We set an upper limit for the bolometric luminosity of a hot ICM in the range ~0.7-2.1 10^{44} h_{65}^{-2}erg/s for CL J0533-2411, depending on the exact redshift. For EIS J0533-2412 the limit is L_bol=(6.2+/-1.4) 10^{43} h_{65}^{-2}erg/s. We interpret our result in the following way: EIS J0533-2412 (and possibly CL J0533-2411) are proto-clusters and show matter overdensities before collapse, which explains the low significance of extended X-ray emission., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 8 pages, 4 figures, figure 1 submitted as jpeg file

This paper presents preliminary results of a spectroscopic survey being conducted at the VLT of fields with optically-selected cluster candidates identified in the EIS I-band survey. Here we report our findings for three candidates selected for having estimated redshifts in the range z=0.8-1.1. New multi-band optical/infrared data were used to assign photometric redshifts to galaxies in the cluster fields and to select possible cluster members in preparation of the spectroscopic observations. Based on the available spectroscopic data, which includes 147 new redshifts for galaxies with Iab<22-23, we confirm the detection of four density enhancements at a confidence level >99%. The detected concentrations include systems with redshifts z=0.81, z=0.95, z=1.14 and the discovery of the first optically-selected cluster at z=1.3. The latter system, with three concordant redshifts, coincides remarkably well with the location of a firm X-ray detection (>5sigma) in a ~80ksec XMM-Newton image taken as part of this program which will be presented in a future paper (Neumann et al. 2002). The z>1 systems presented here are possibly the most distant identified so far by their optical properties alone., Comment: 6 pages, A&A, accepted for publication

(abridged) Stellar catalogues in five passbands (UBVRI) over an area of approximately 0.3 deg^2, comprising about 1200 objects, and in seven passbands (UBVRIJK) over approximately 0.1 deg^2, comprising about 400 objects, in the direction of the Chandra Deep Field South are presented. The 90% completeness level of the number counts is reached at approximately U = 23.8, B = 24.0, V = 23.5, R = 23.0, I = 21.0, J = 20.5, K = 19.0. A scheme is presented to select point sources from these catalogues, by combining the SExtractor parameter CLASS_STAR from all available passbands. Probable QSOs and unresolved galaxies are identified by using the previously developed \chi^2-technique (Hatziminaoglou et al 2002), that fits the overall spectral energy distributions to template spectra and determines the best fitting template. The observed number counts, colour-magnitude diagrams, colour-colour diagrams and colour distributions are presented and, to judge the quality of the data, compared to simulations based on the predictions of a Galactic Model convolved with the estimated completeness functions and the error model used to describe the photometric errors of the data. The resulting stellar catalogues and the objects identified as likely QSOs and unresolved galaxies with coordinates, observed magnitudes with errors and assigned spectral types by the $\chi^2$-technique are presented and are publicly available., Comment: Paper as it will appear in print. Complete figures and tables can be obtained from: http://www.eso.org/science/eis/eis_pub/eis_pub.html. Astronomy & Astrophysics, accepted for publication

We report the results of the first multi-object spectroscopic observations at the Danish 1.54m telescope at La Silla, Chile. Observations of five cluster candidates from the ESO Imaging Survey Cluster Candidate Catalog are described. From these observations we confirm the reality of the five clusters with measured redshifts of 0.11<=z<=0.35. We estimate velocity dispersions in the range 294-621km/s indicating rather poor clusters. This, and the measured cluster redshifts are consistent with the results of the matched filter procedure applied to produce the Cluster Candidate Catalog., Comment: 7pages, accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysics

This paper describes the methodology currently being implemented in the EIS pipeline for analysing optical/infrared multi-colour data. The aim is to identify different classes of objects as well as possible undesirable features associated with the construction of colour catalogues. The classification method used is based on the xi^2-fitting of template spectra to the observed SEDs, as measured through broad-band filters. Its main advantage is the simultaneous use of all colours, properly weighted by the photometric errors. In addition, it provides basic information on the properties of the classified objects (eg redshift, effective temperature). These characteristics make the xi^2-technique ideal for handling large multi-band datasets. The results are compared to the more traditional colour-colour selection and, whenever possible, to model predictions. In order to identify objects with odd colours, either associated with rare populations or to possible problems in the catalogue, outliers are searched for in the multi-dimensional colour space using a nearest-neighbour criterion. Outliers with large xi^2-values are individually inspected to further investigate their nature. The tools developed are used for a preliminary analysis of the multi-colour point source catalogue constructed from the optical/infrared imaging data obtained for the Chandra Deep Field South (CDF-S). These data are publicly available, representing the first installment of the ongoing EIS Deep Public Survey., Comment: 18 pages, LaTeX, 16 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in A&A

We use public V-band imaging data from the wide-angle surveys conducted by the ESO Imaging Survey project (EIS) to further investigate the nature of the EIS galaxy cluster candidates. These were originally identified by applying a matched-filter algorithm which used positional and photometric data of the galaxy sample extracted from the I-band survey images. In this paper, we apply the same technique to the galaxy sample extracted from V-band data and compare the new cluster detections with the original ones. We find that ~75% of the low-redshift cluster candidates (z<0.6) are detected in both passbands and their estimated redshifts show good agreement with the scatter in the redshift differences being consistent with the estimated errors of the method. For the ``robust'' I-band detections the matching frequency approaches ~85%. We also use the available (V-I) color to search for the red sequence of early-type galaxies observed in rich clusters over a broad range of redshifts. This is done by searching for a simultaneous overdensity in the three-dimensional color-projected distance space. We find significant overdensities for ~75% of the ``robust'' candidates with z_I<0.6. We find good agreement between the characteristic color associated to the detected "red sequence" and that predicted by passive evolution galaxy models for ellipticals at the redshift estimated by the matched-filter. The results presented in this paper show the usefulness of color data, even of two-band data, to both tentatively confirm cluster candidates and to select possible cluster members for spectroscopic observations. Based on the present results, we estimate that ~150 EIS clusters with z_I<0.6 are real, making it one of the largest samples of galaxy clusters in this redshift range currently available in the southern hemisphere., Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

This paper presents new J and Ks near-infrared data obtained from observations of the Chandra Deep Field South (CDF-S) conducted at the ESO 3.5m New Technology Telescope (NTT). These data were taken as part of the ongoing Deep Public Survey (DPS) being carried out by the ESO Imaging Survey (EIS) program, extending the EIS-DEEP survey. Combined these surveys now provide a contiguous coverage over an area of 400 square arcmin in the near-infrared, nearly matching that covered by the deep X-ray observations of Chandra, four times the area of the original EIS-DEEP survey. The paper briefly describes the observations and the new techniques being employed for pipeline processing jittered infrared observations, which include unbiased de-fringing and sky-background subtraction, pixel-based astrometry and stacking and pixel registration based on a multi-resolution decomposition of the images. The astrometric solution is based on a pre-release of the GSC-II catalog and has an accuracy of < 0.15 arcsec. The final images for 12 pointings presented here reach median 5 sigma limiting magnitudes of J_AB~23.4 and K_AB~22.6 as measured within an aperture 2xFWHM. The frame to frame variation of the photometric zero-point is estimated to be <0.09 mag. The data are publicly available in the form of fully calibrated J and Ks pixel maps and source lists extracted for each pointing. These data can be requested through the URL ``http://www.eso.org/eis''., Comment: 10 pages, 8 postscript figures, Figure 1 and Figures 3 are available in jpeg format, uses updated style aa.cls for Astronomy & Astrophysics. submitted to Astronomy & Astrophysics

In this contribution the ongoing effort to build a statistical sample of clusters of galaxies over a wide range of redshifts to study the evolution of clusters and member galaxies is reviewed. The starting point for this project has been the list of candidate clusters identified from the I-band EIS-WIDE survey data. Since the completion of this survey, new optical/infrared observations have become available and have been used to confirm some of these candidates using the photometric data alone or in combination with the results of follow-up spectroscopic observations. Our preliminary results show that the yield of real physical associations from the original catalog is conservatively >60% and that a large sample of clusters in the southern hemisphere, extending to high-redshifts, is within reach., Comment: To appear in the proceeding of the ESO/ECF/STScI Workhop on Deep Fields, Oct. 9.-12.,2000; 7 pages, 3 figures

We report the discovery of the gamma-ray burst GRB 000131 and its optical afterglow. The optical identification was made with the VLT 84 hours after the burst following a BATSE detection and an Inter Planetary Network localization. GRB 000131 was a bright, long-duration GRB, with an apparent precursor signal 62 s prior to trigger. The afterglow was detected in ESO VLT, NTT, and DK1.54m follow-up observations. Broad-band and spectroscopic observations of the spectral energy distribution reveals a sharp break at optical wavelengths which is interpreted as a Ly-alpha absorption edge at 6700 A. This places GRB 000131 at a redshift of 4.500 +/- 0.015. The inferred isotropic energy release in gamma rays alone was approximately 10^54 erg (depending on the assumed cosmology). The rapid power-law decay of the afterglow (index alpha=2.25, similar to bursts with a prior break in the lightcurve), however, indicates collimated outflow, which relaxes the energy requirements by a factor of < 200. The afterglow of GRB 000131 is the first to be identified with an 8-m class telescope., Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, accepted to A&A Letters

We measure redshifts for 67 galaxies in the field of six cluster candidates from the ESO Imaging Survey (EIS). The cluster candidates are selected in the EIS patches C and D among those with estimated mean redshifts between 0.5 and 0.7. The observations were made with EFOSC2 at the 3.6m ESO telescope. In the six candidate cluster fields, we identify 19 possible sets of 2 to 7 galaxies in redshift space. In order to establish which of the 19 sets are likely to correspond to real dense systems we compare our counts with those expected from a uniform distribution of galaxies with given luminosity function. In order to take into account the effect of the Large Scale Structure, we modulate the probability computed from the luminosity function with random samplings of the Canada-France Redshift Survey. We find that four out of six candidate EIS clusters are likely to correspond to real systems in redshift space (> 95 % confidence level). Two of these systems have mean redshift in agreement with the redshift estimate given by the matched filter algorithm. The other two systems have significantly lower redshifts. We discuss the implications of our results in the context of our ongoing research projects aimed at defining high-redshift optically-selected cluster samples., Comment: To appear in A&A, main journal -- 12 pages, 9 figures

Candidate clusters of galaxies drawn from the sample identified from the moderately deep I-band data of the ESO Imaging Survey (EIS), have been used for follow-up optical/infrared imaging and spectroscopic observations. The observations were conducted to assess the nature of these candidates over a large range of redshifts. Currently, 163 EIS candidates have (V-I) colors, 15 have (I-K) and 65 cluster fields have been observed spectroscopically. From a preliminary analysis of these data, we find that > 65% of the candidates studied show strong evidence of being real physical associations, over the redshift range 0.20.6, and six candidates in the interval 0.45

Using EFOSC2 at the 3.6m ESO telescope, we obtained redshifts for 68 galaxies in the field of six cluster candidates from the ESO Imaging Survey (EIS). The cluster candidates were selected in the EIS patches C and D and have estimated mean redshifts between z=0.5 and z=0.7. In the six candidate cluster fields, we identify possible systems of galaxies in the redshift space. The likelihoods of these systems are established by comparison with random resamplings of the Canada-France Redshift Surveys, and using the redshift distribution expected from Postman et al.'s luminosity function, with Poggianti's K- and evolutionary-corrections. Four of the six candidate EIS clusters are found to correspond to a real system in the redshift space, with > 95 % probability. Two of them have a mean redshift in agreement with the estimate from the matched filter algorithm, while the other two have a significantly smaller redshift. The independent analysis of the V-I vs. I color-magnitude diagrams for five of our six cluster fields, supports our conclusions based on the spectroscopic data., Comment: 2 pages. To appear in the proceedings of the 1999 Marseille International Conference "Clustering at High Redshift", A. Mazure, O. Le Fevre, V. Le Brun eds

Clusters of galaxies are important targets in observationally cosmology, as they can be used both to study the evolution of the galaxies themselves and to constrain cosmological parameters. Here we report on the first results of a major effort to build up a sample of distant galaxy clusters to form the basis for further studies within those fields. We search for simultaneous overdensities in color and space to obtain supporting evidence for the reality of the clusters. We find a confirmation rate for EIS clusters of 66%, suggesting that a total of about 80 clusters with z>=0.6 are within reach using the EIS cluster candidates., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the IGRAP International Conference 1999 on 'Clustering at high Redshift'

Optical data from the ESO VLT-UT1 Science Verification observations are combined with near-infrared data from SOFI at the NTT to obtain optical-infrared color-magnitude diagrams for the objects in the fields of two EIS cluster candidates. In both cases, evidence is found for a well-defined sequence of red galaxies that appear to be significantly more clustered than the background population. These results suggest that the two systems are real physical associations. The (R-Ks), (I-Ks) and (J-Ks) colors of the red sequences are used, in conjunction with similar data for spectroscopically confirmed clusters, to obtain redshift estimates of z ~ 0.9 and z ~ 1.0 for these two systems. These results make these EIS cluster candidates prime targets for follow-up spectroscopic observations to confirm their reality and to measure more accurately their redshift., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Astronomy & Astrophysics (Special Letters Edition on "First Science with the VLT")

This paper presents ground-based data obtained from deep optical and infrared observations carried out at the ESO 3.5 New Technology Telescope (NTT) of a field selected for its low HI content for deep observations with AXAF. These data were taken as part of the ESO Imaging Survey (EIS) program, a public survey conducted in preparation for the first year of operation of the VLT. Deep CCD images are available for five optical passbands, reaching 2 sigma limiting magnitudes of U_AB~27.0, B_AB~27, V_AB~26.5, R_AB~26.5 and I_AB~26. An area of ~56 square arcmin is covered by UBVR observations, and ~30 square arcmin also in I. The infrared observations cover a total area of ~83 square arcmin, reaching J_AB~24.5 and K_AB~23.5. This paper describes the observations and data reduction. It also presents images of the surveyed region and lists the optical and infrared photometric parameters of the objects detected on the co-added images of each passband, as well as multicolor optical and infrared catalogs. These catalogs together with the astrometrically and photometrically calibrated co-added images are public and can be retrieved from the URL http://www.eso.org/eis/ . This data set completes the ESO Imaging Survey program sixteen months after it began in July 1997., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, 5 jpg

This paper presents ground-based data obtained from deep optical and infrared observations of the HST Hubble Deep Field South (HDF-S) field carried out at the ESO 3.5 New Technology Telescope (NTT). These data were taken as part of the ESO Imaging Survey (EIS) program, a public survey coordinated by ESO and member states, in preparation for the first year of operation of the VLT. Deep CCD images are available for five optical passbands, reaching 2 sigma limiting magnitudes of U_AB~27.0, B_AB~26.5, V_AB~26, R_AB~26, I_AB~25, covering a region of ~25 square arcmin, which includes the HST WPFC2 field. The infrared observations cover a total area of ~42 square arcmin and include both the HST WFPC2 and STIS fields. The observations of the WFPC2 region were conducted in JHKs passbands, reaching J_AB~25, and H_AB and K_AB~24.0. Due to time constraints, the adjacent field, covering the STIS field, has been observed only in R, I and JHKs, while no observations were conducted covering the NIC3 field. This paper describes the observations and data reduction. It also presents images of the surveyed region and lists the optical and infrared photometric parameters of the objects detected on the co-added images of each passband, as well as multicolor optical and infrared catalogs. These catalogs together with the astrometrically and photometrically calibrated co-added images are being made public world-wide and can be retrieved from the world-wide web (http://www.eso.org/eis)., Comment: 24 pages, 17 figures (7 available in jpg format), submitted to Astronomy and Astrophysics

The results of a search for distant clusters of galaxies performed using the I-band data obtained by the ESO Imaging Survey (EIS) are presented. Cluster candidates are identified using a matched filter algorithm, that provides not only an objective detection criterion, but also the means to estimate the cluster redshift and richness. A preliminary sample of distant clusters has been obtained, containing 252 cluster candidates with estimated redshift in the interval 0.2 < z < 1.3 (median redshift z_med ~ 0.4) over an area of approximately 14 square degrees. The adopted selection criteria for the inclusion of cluster candidates in this sample has been in general conservative, as the primary concern has been the reliability of the candidates rather than the completeness of the sample., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. To appear in the proceedings of "Evolution of Large Scale Structure: From Recombination to Garching"

In this paper the list of candidate clusters identified from the I-band data of the ESO Imaging Survey (EIS) is completed using the images obtained over a total area of about 12 square degrees. Together with the data reported earlier the total I-band coverage of EIS is 17 square degrees, which has yielded a sample of 252 cluster candidates in the redshift range $0.2 \lsim z \lsim 1.3$. This is the largest optically-selected sample currently available in the Southern Hemisphere. It is also well distributed in the sky thus providing targets for a variety of VLT programs nearly year round., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Astronomy & Astrophysics

This paper presents the I-band data obtained by the ESO Imaging Survey (EIS) over two patches of the sky, 6 square degrees each, centered at $\alpha \sim 5^h40^m$, $\delta \sim -24^\circ50^m$, and $\alpha \sim 9^h50^m$, $\delta \sim -21^\circ 00^m$. The data are being made public in the form of object catalogs and, photometrically and astrometrically calibrated pixel maps. These products together with other useful information can be found at "http://www.eso.org/eis". The overall quality of the data in the two fields is significantly better than the other two patches released earlier and cover a much larger contiguous area. The total number of objects in the catalogs extracted from these frames is over 700,000 down to $I\sim23$, where the galaxy catalogs are 80% complete. The star counts are consistent with model predictions computed at the position of the patches considered. The galaxy counts and the angular two-point correlation functions are also consistent with those of the other patches showing that the EIS data set is homogeneous and that the galaxy catalogs are uniform., Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures, submitted to Astronomy and Astrophysics

This paper presents 19 additional candidate clusters detected using the galaxy catalog extracted from the I-band images taken for the ESO Imaging Survey (EIS). The candidates are found over a region of 1.1 square degrees, located near the South Galactic Pole. Combined with the sample reported earlier, the number of candidates in the Southern Galactic Cap is now 54 over a total area of 3.6 square degrees. Images in V band are also available over 2.7 square degrees, and galaxy catalogs extracted from them over a uniform area of 2 square degrees have been used to further explore the reality of the I cluster candidates. Nearly all the I candidates with estimated redshifts <~ 0.5 are also identified in V. At higher redshifts, only rich candidates are detected in both bands., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Astronomy and Astrophysics Letters

This paper presents multicolor data obtained for a 1.7 square degree region near the South Galactic Pole (patch B) as part of the ESO Imaging Survey (EIS). So far the observations have been conducted in B,V and I but are expected to be complemented by observations in the U band later in 1998. Object catalogs extracted from single exposure images are 80% complete down to B~24, V~23.5 and I ~22.5 and once coadded should reach about 0.5 mag deeper. The data are being made public in the form of catalogs, pixel maps, target lists and image "postage stamps" which can be retrieved from the Web. Counts of stars and galaxies and the angular two-point correlation function of galaxies are computed and compared to other available data to evaluate the depth and uniformity of the extrtacted object catalogs. In addition, color distributions of stellar objects are presented and compared to model predictions to examine the reliability of the colors. The results suggest that the overall quality of the catalogs extracted from the images is good and suitable for the science goals of the survey., Comment: 12 pages, 17 figures, submitted to Astronomy and Astrophysics

This paper presents preliminary lists of potentially interesting point-like sources extracted from multicolor data obtained for a 1.7 square degree region near the South Galactic Pole. The region has been covered by the ESO Imaging Survey (EIS) in B, V,I, and offers a unique combination of area and depth.These lists, containing a total of 330 objects nearly all brighter than I~21.5, over 1.27 square degrees (after removing some bad regions), are by-products of the process of verification and quality control of the object catalogs being produced. Among the color selected targets are candidate very low mass stars/brown dwarfs (54), white-dwarfs (32), and quasars (244). In addition, a probable fast moving asteroid was identified. The objects presented here are natural candidates for follow-up spectroscopic observations and illustrate the usefulness of the EIS data for a broad range of science and for providing possible samples for the first year of the VLT., Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, submitted to A. and A

Preliminary results of a search for distant clusters of galaxies using the recently released I-band data obtained by the ESO Imaging Survey are presented. In this first installment of the survey, data covering about 3 square degrees in I-band are being used. The matched filter algorithm is applied to two sets of frames that cover the whole patch contiguously and these independent realizations are used to assess the performance of the algorithm and to establish, from the data itself, a robust detection threshold. A preliminary catalog of distant clusters is presented, containing 39 cluster candidates with estimated redshifts 0.3 < z < 1.3 over an area of 2.5 square degrees., Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, submitted to Astronomy and Astrophysics

This paper presents the preliminary results of the ESO Imaging Survey (EIS), a public survey being carried out by ESO and member states, in preparation for the VLT first-light. The survey goals, organization, strategy and observations are discussed and an overview is given of the survey pipeline developed to handle EIS data and produce object catalogs. A report is presented on moderately deep I-band observations obtained in the first of four patches surveyed, covering a region of 3.2 square degrees centered at R.A. 22h40m and Dec. -40d. The products available to the community, including pixel maps (with astrometric and photometric calibrations) and the corresponding object catalogs, are also described. In order to evaluate the quality of the data, preliminary estimates are presented for the star and galaxy number counts, and for the angular two-point correlation function obtained from the available data. The present work is meant as a preview of the final release of the EIS data that will become available later this year., Comment: 25 pages, 30 figures, submitted to Astronomy and Astrophysics

The ESO Imaging Survey (EIS) presented in early issues of the Messenger, and with up-to-date information on the ongoing observations available on the Web (http://www.eso.org/eis), is a concerted effort by ESO and the Member State community to provide targets for the first year of operation of the VLT. It consists of two parts: a relatively wide-angle survey (EIS-WIDE) to cover four pre-selected patches of sky, 6 square degrees each, spread in right ascension to search for distant clusters and quasars and a deep, multicolor survey of four optical (SUSI-2) and two infrared (SOFI) covering the HST/Hubble Deep Field South (HDFS) and its flanking fields (EIS-DEEP). From the start, the main challenge has been to carry out a public survey in a limited amount of time requiring observations, software development and data reduction with the goal of distributing the survey data products before the call for proposal for the VLT. To cope with this one-year timetable, a novel type of collaboration between ESO and the community has been established which has allowed EIS to combine the scientific and technical expertise fo the community with in-house know-how and infrastructure. In spite of the adverse weather conditions in some of the earlier runs, EIS has already proved to be successful experiment achieving most of its scientific and technical goals, thereby laying the ground work for future imaging surveys., Comment: 11 pages Latex,mprocl.sty included, 2 Postscript figures, 4 jpg figures, to be published in the ESO Messenger