Observations of the Hubble Deep Field with the Infrared Space Observatory - I. Data reduction, maps and sky coverage

We present deep imaging at 6.7 and 15 μm from the CAM instrument on the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO), centred on the Hubble Deep Field (HDF). These are the deepest integrations published to date at these wavelengths in any region of sky. We discuss the observational strategy and the data reduction. The observed source density appears to approach the CAM confusion limit at 15 μm, and fluctuations in the 6.7-μm sky background may be identifiable with similar spatial fluctuations in the HDF galaxy counts. ISO appears to be detecting comparable field galaxy populations to the HDF, and our data yield strong evidence that future infrared missions (such as SIRTF, FIRST and WIRE) as well as SCUBA and millimetre arrays will easily detect field galaxies out to comparably high redshifts.