The Large Zenith Telescope Survey: a deep survey using a 6-m liquid mirror telescope

Abstract

The Large Zenith Telescope Survey whose construction is almost completed (first light expected in spring 2002) near Vancouver (Canada) is designed to observed a total strip of ~17' x 120 deg in 40 medium-band filters spanning 4000-10000 A. It will gather the spectrophotometric energy distributions of ca. \~10^6 galaxies to redshifts z~1, with redshift accuracy sigma_z=0.01 at s/n=10, sigma_z=0.04 at s/n=3, ca. 10^5 stars, and a large sample of QSOs, variable stars, and transient objects of the solar system. The survey is optimized for studying of the evolution of both the luminosity function and the clustering of galaxies to a redshift z~1. It will also provide a complete and homogeneous sample of stars at various galactic latitudes useful for studying galactic structure, and it will be a good instrument for the monitoring of variable objects.