A NEAR-INFRARED FAINT GALAXY SURVEY

The results of two K-band surveys of the extragalactic sky are presented and compared to other available data. Each survey was designed to balance depth with area of coverage, and a sufficient number of galaxies was studied at each magnitude in the range 12 < K < 22 to provide good statistics. Each survey area was also observed in the B- acid I-bands. The I-K colors are presented, and it is argued that there is a deficiency of galaxies with the colors of unevolved ellipticals at z > 1. The B-K colors are shown to move away from the no-evolution model beginning at K = 17. The positions of the galaxies on the B-I versus I-K plot are consistent with these arguments and with the compiled faint galaxy number counts. The surface brightness of the galaxies is analyzed, and it is argued that variation in surface brightness causes no systematic bias in the number count data. Various aspects of the data are compared with models of primeval galaxies and galaxy evolution, and it is argued that forming galaxies are present within the data but remain unidentified.