[en] We describe the European Large Area ISO Survey (ELAIS). ELAIS was the largest single Open Time project conducted by ISO, mapping an area of 12deg[SUP]2[/SUP] at 15μm with ISOCAM and at 90μm with ISOPHOT. Secondary surveys in other ISO bands were undertaken by the ELAIS team within the fields of the primary survey, with 6deg[SUP]2[/SUP] being covered at 6.7μm and 1deg[SUP]2[/SUP] at 175μm. This paper discusses the goals of the project and the techniques employed in its construction, as well as presenting details of the observations carried out, the data from which are now in the public domain. We outline the ELAIS `preliminary analysis' which led to the detection of over 1000 sources from the 15 and 90-μm surveys (the majority selected at 15μm with a flux limit of ~3mJy), to be fed into a ground-based follow-up campaign, as well as a programme of photometric observations of detected sources using both ISOCAM and ISOPHOT. We detail how the ELAIS survey complements other ISO surveys in terms of depth and areal coverage, and show that the extensive multi-wavelength coverage of the ELAIS fields resulting from our concerted and on-going follow-up programme has made these regions amongst the best studied areas of their size in the entire sky, and, therefore, natural targets for future surveys. This paper accompanies the release of extremely reliable subsets of the `preliminary analysis' products. Subsequent papers in this series will give further details of our data reduction techniques, reliability and completeness estimates and present the 15- and 90-μm number counts from the `preliminary analysis', while a further series of papers will discuss in detail the results from the ELAIS `final analysis', as well as from the follow-up programme.
Disciplines :
Space science, astronomy & astrophysics
Author, co-author :
Oliver, Seb; Astrophysics Group, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College of Science Technology & Medicine (ICSTM), Prince Consort Rd, London SW7 2BZ
Rowan-Robinson, Michael; Astrophysics Group, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College of Science Technology & Medicine (ICSTM), Prince Consort Rd, London SW7 2BZ
Alexander, D. M.; SISSA, International School for Advanced Studies, Via Beirut 2-4, 34014 Trieste, Italy
Almaini, O.; Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ
Balcells, M.; Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, C/ Via Lactea, s/n, 38200 La Laguna, S/C de Tenerife, Spain
Baker, A. C.; Dept of Physics & Astronomy, Cardiff University, PO Box 913, Cardiff CF24 3YB
Barcons, X.; Instituto de Fúsica de Cantabria (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientúficas - Universidad de Cantabria), 39005 Santander, Spain
Bellas-Velidis, I.; National Observatory of Athens, Astronomical Institute, PO Box 20048, GR-11810, Greece
Cabrera-Guerra, F.; Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, C/ Via Lactea, s/n, 38200 La Laguna, S/C de Tenerife, Spain
Carballo, R.; Instituto de Fúsica de Cantabria (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientúficas - Universidad de Cantabria), 39005 Santander, Spain ; Departamento de Fúsica Moderna, Universidad de Cantabria, 39005 Santander, Spain
Cesarsky, C. J.; CEA/SACLAY, 91191 Gif sur Yvette cedex, France
Ciliegi, P.; Osservatorio Astronomico di Bologna, via Ranzani 1, 40127 Bologna, Italy
Clements, D. L.; Dept of Physics & Astronomy, Cardiff University, PO Box 913, Cardiff CF24 3YB5
Crockett, H.; Astrophysics Group, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College of Science Technology & Medicine (ICSTM), Prince Consort Rd, London SW7 2BZ
Danese, L.; SISSA, International School for Advanced Studies, Via Beirut 2-4, 34014 Trieste, Italy
Dapergolas, A.; National Observatory of Athens, Astronomical Institute, PO Box 20048, GR-11810, Greece
Drolias, B.; Astrophysics Group, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College of Science Technology & Medicine (ICSTM), Prince Consort Rd, London SW7 2BZ
Eaton, N.; Astrophysics Group, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College of Science Technology & Medicine (ICSTM), Prince Consort Rd, London SW7 2BZ
Efstathiou, A.; Astrophysics Group, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College of Science Technology & Medicine (ICSTM), Prince Consort Rd, London SW7 2BZ
Egami, E.; Infrared Astronomy Group, 320-47 Downs Laboratory of Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Elbaz, D.; CEA/SACLAY, 91191 Gif sur Yvette cedex, France
Fadda, D.; CEA/SACLAY, 91191 Gif sur Yvette cedex, France
Fox, M.
Franceschini, A.; Dipartimento di Astronomia, Universita' di Padova, Vicolo Osservatorio 5, I-35122 Padova, Italy
Goldschmidt, P.; Astrophysics Group, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College of Science Technology & Medicine (ICSTM), Prince Consort Rd, London SW7 2BZ
Graham, M.; Astrophysics Group, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College of Science Technology & Medicine (ICSTM), Prince Consort Rd, London SW7 2BZ
Gonzalez-Serrano, J. I.; Instituto de Fúsica de Cantabria (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientúficas-Universidad de Cantabria), 39005 Santander, Spain
Gonzalez-Solares, E. A.; Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, C/ Via Lactea, s/n, 38200 La Laguna, S/C de Tenerife, Spain
Granato, G. L.; Dipartimento di Astronomia, Universita' ; di Padova, Vicolo Osservatorio 5, I-35122 Padova, Italy
Gruppioni, C.; Osservatorio Astronomico di Bologna, via Ranzani 1, 40127 Bologna, Italy
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