First Estimate of the Thick Disc Mass Function

A large set of star counts at high and intermediate galactic latitudes, in the visible and the near infrared, is used to determine the density law and the mass function of the thick disc population, by comparing the data with simulations of a population synthesis model. The combination of shallow fields dominated by stars at the turnoff with deep fields having smaller mass stars allows the first determination of the thick disc initial mass function in the mass range 0.2–0.8 M⊙.