First results from the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey

The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey is a major new initiative to map a representative volume of the universe. The survey makes use of the 2dF multi-fibre spectrograph at the Anglo-Australian Telescope to measure redshifts for over 250000 galaxies brighter than b(J) = 19.5 and a further 10000 galaxies brighter than R = 21. The main goals of the survey are to characterize the large-scale structure of the universe and quantify the properties of the galaxy population at low redshifts. This paper describes the design of the survey and presents some preliminary results from the first 8000 galaxy redshifts to be measured.