CCD/TRANSIT INSTRUMENT DEEP PHOTOMETRIC AND POLARIMETRIC SURVEY - A PROGRESS REPORT.

The authors have previously reported on the design and predicted performance of a new type of dedicated astronomical telescope to be used for a deep photometric survey for galactic and extragalactic variability and polarization. Data derived from this survey will be useful for astronomical investigations including the definition of a complete sample of quasi-stellar objects (QSOs), based on their variability and nonstellar colors, the detection of supernovae on the rising branch of their light curves, and the determination of the supernova production rate as a function of galaxy color, morphology, and red shift. The telescope to accomplish this survey is a transit instrument. It will incorporate a 1. 8 m primary mirror of high quality, fabricated as part of the program to develop the Space Telescope mirror technology, and, as its detectors, two RCA CCDs (512 multiplied by 320, 30 mu m pixels) used in the time-delay and integration (TDI) mode.