Redshifts from VIMOS VLT Deep Survey

We have measured 1599 new redshifts with VIMOS on the European Observatory Very Large Telescope - UT3, in an area 21x21.6arcmin^2^, including 784 redshifts in the Hubble Space Telescope - Advanced Camera for Surveys GOODS area. 30% of all objects with I_AB_=24 have been observed independently of magnitude, indicating that the sample is purely magnitude limited.

We have reached an unprecedented completeness level of 84% in terms of the ratio of secure measurements vs. observed objects, while 95% of all objects have a redshift measurement. A total of 1452 galaxies, 139 stars, 8 QSOs have a redshift identification, 141 of these being unsecure measurements. The redshift distribution down to IAB=24 is peaked at a median redshift z=0.73, with a significant high redshift tail extending up to ~4.