Deep BVR photometry of the Chandra Deep Field South from the COMBO-17 survey

We report on deep multi-color imaging (R₅-sigma = 26. 0) of the Chandra Deep Field South, obtained with the Wide Field Imager (WFI) at the MPG/ESO 2. 2 m telescope on La Silla as part of the COMBO-17 survey. We include an overview of the COMBO-17 project and a detailed reduction scheme for WFI survey data. We discuss particular treatment necessary for accurate flatfielding of WFI images taken in the second half of 1999. As a result we present a catalog of 63501 objects in a field measuring 31. 5' x 30' with astrometry and photometry. A sample of 35 variable objects is selected from two-epoch photometry. We try to give interpretations based on color, morphology and variation amplitude.