ESO Imaging Survey. AXAF Field: Deep Optical-Infrared Observations, Data Reduction and Photometry

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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 UₐB 27.0, BₐB 27, VₐB 26.5, RₐB 26.5 and IₐB 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 JₐB 24.5 and KₐB 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.