Preliminary Results from the ESO Slice Project (ESP)

We present the first results of a galaxy redshift survey, ESO Slice Project (ESP), we are accomplishing as an ESO Key–Project over about 40 square degrees in a region near the South Galactic Pole. The limiting magnitude is $b_J = 19.4$\mathrm{.}Uptonow$\sim 85%$oftheobservationshasbeencompletedand$\sim 65%$ofthedatahasbeenreducedproviding$\sim 2000$ galaxy redshifts. We present some preliminary results concerning the large scale galaxy distribution, the luminosity function and the properties of galaxies with spectra showing prominent emission lines.