The Century Survey: A Deeper Slice of the Universe

Abstract

The ``Century Survey'' (CS hereafter) is a complete redshift survey of a 1$^\circ$-wide strip. It covers 0.03 steradians to a limiting m$_R$ = 16.13. The survey is 98.4% complete and contains 1762 galaxies. Large-scale features in the survey are qualitatively similar to those in other surveys: there are large voids surrounded or nearly surrounded by thin dense regions which are sections of structures like (and including) the Great Wall. The survey crosses the classical Corona Borealis supercluster. The galaxy density enhancement associated with this system extends for $\simgreat 100 h^{-1}$ Mpc (the Hubble constant is H$_0 = 100h$ km s$^{-1}$Mpc$^{-1}$). The Schechter (1976) luminosity function parameters for the CS are: $M^*_{CS} = -20.73 ^{+0.17}_{-0.18}$, $α_{CS} = -1.17 ^{+0.19}_{-0.19}$, and $ϕ^*_{CS} = 0.0250\pm0.0061$ Mpc$^{-3}$mag$^{-1}$. In concert with the ESO Key Program (\cite{vet97}; \cite{zuc97}) and the AUTOFIB (\cite{ell96}) surveys, the CS indicates that the absolute normalization of the luminosity function exceeds estimates based on shallower and/or sparser surveys.