Optical and Near-IR Field Luminosity Functions

Abstract

We present preliminary measurements of the b_J and K-band luminosity functions (LFs) of field galaxies obtained from optical and K-band imaging of a sample of galaxies selected from the Stromlo-APM Redshift Survey. The b_J LF is consistent with that previously published from photographic data. The K-band LF has been estimated over a range of 12 magnitudes and is reasonably well fit by a Schechter function with faint-end slope alpha = -1.2.

8 pages, 5 embedded figures. To appear in proceedings of IAU colloquium 171, eds. J.I. Davies, C. Impey & S. Phillipps