ESO IMAGING SURVEY. VII. DISTANT CLUSTER CANDIDATES OVER 12 SQUARE DEGREES

In this paper the list of candidate clusters identified from the I -band images of the ESO Imaging Survey (EIS) is completed using the data obtained over a total area of about 12 square degrees (EIS Patches C and D). 248 new cluster candidates are presented. Together with the data reported earlier the total I -band coverage of EIS is 17 square degrees, which has yielded a sample of 302 cluster candidates with estimated redshift in the range and a median redshift of . This is the largest optically-selected sample currently available in the Southern Hemisphere. It is also well distributed in the sky thus providing targets for a variety of VLT programs nearly year round.