In this paper we present the first results of deep star counts carried out within the C alar A lto D eep I maging S urvey , CADIS [ Meisenheimer et al .
1998 ] .
Although CADIS was designed as an extragalactic survey , it also attempts to identify the stars in the fields in order to avoid confusion with quasars and compact galaxies . We have identified a sample of about 300 faint stars ( 15.5 \la R \la 23 ) , which are well suited to study the structure of the Galaxy .
The stars lie in two fields with central coordinates \alpha _ { 2000 } = 16 ^ { h } 24 ^ { m } 32. ^ { s } 3 , \delta _ { 2000 } = 55 ^ { \circ } 44 ^ { \prime } 32 ^ { \prime \prime } ( Galactic coordinates : l = 85 \degr , b = 45 ^ { \circ } ) and \alpha _ { 2000 } = 9 ^ { h } 13 ^ { m } 47. ^ { s } 5 , \delta _ { 2000 } = 46 ^ { \circ } 14 ^ { \prime } 20 ^ { \prime \prime } ( l = 175 ^ { \circ } , b = 45 ^ { \circ } ) ( hereafter 16h and 9h field , respectively .
The stars have been separated from galaxies by a classification scheme based on photometric spectra and morphological criteria .
Distances were derived by photometric parallaxes .
We are able to find stars up to distances of \approx 25 kpc above the Galactic plane .
The vertical density distribution of the stars shows the contribution of the thin disk , the stellar halo and the “ thick disk ” of the Galaxy .
We give quantitative descriptions of the components in terms of exponential disks and a de Vaucouleurs spheroid .
For the disk stars we derive the luminosity function .
It is equal within the errors to the local luminosity function and continues to rise out to at least M _ { V } = 13 .
Implications for the mass function are briefly discussed .