A wide-field K-band survey — I. Galaxy counts in B, V, I and K

We present bright galaxy number counts measured with linear detectors in the B, V, I and K bands in two fields covering nearly 10 deg 2 All of our measurements are consistent with passive-evolution models, and do not confirm the steep slope measured in other surveys at bright magnitudes. Throughout the range 16 < B < 19, our B-band counts are consistent with the 'high-normalization' models proposed to reduce the faint blue galaxy problem. Our K-band counts agree with previous measurements, and have reached a fair sample of the universe in the magnitude range where evolution and K-corrections are well understood.