ESO Distant Cluster Survey, EDisCS

Candidate clusters were chosen from among the brightest objects identified in the Las Campanas Distant Cluster Survey (LCDCS), half with estimated redshift z_est_~0.5 and half with z_est_~0.8. They were confirmed by identifying red sequences in moderately deep two colour data from VLT/FORS2.

For confirmed candidates we have assembled deep three-band optical photometry using VLT/FORS2, deep near-infrared photometry in one or two bands using NTT/SOFI, deep optical spectroscopy using VLT/FORS2, wide field imaging in two or three bands using the ESO Wide Field Imager, and HST/ACS mosaic images for 10 of the most distant clusters. This first paper presents our sample and the VLT photometry we have obtained. We present images, colour magnitude diagrams and richness estimates for our clusters, as well as giving redshifts and positions for the brightest cluster members.