SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY OF 600 ULTRA-FAINT GALAXIES AT CFHT - FIRST RESULTS

Our French-Canadian collaboration has obtained the spectra of 85% of 9 43 objects with I < 22 mag, 591 of which are galaxies, 6 are quasars a nd 200 are stars. Galaxy redshifts range from z = 0.05 to z = 1.3, wit h a < z > = 0.55. This survey provides the first opportunity to study in detail normal galaxies at a time when the Universe was less than ha lf its present age. While the luminosity distribution of red galaxies is apparently similar to the local one, blue galaxies brighter than L show evolution of their luminosity since z = 0.5. The luminosity func tion of blue galaxies also presents a steepening at lower redshift and luminosity range (z < 0.3, L < 0.1L).