VEGAS: A VST Early-type GAlaxy Survey. I. Presentation, wide-field
  surface photometry, and substructures in NGC 4472
  We present the VST Early-type GAlaxy Survey (VEGAS), which is designed to
obtain deep multiband photometry in g, r, i, of about one hundred nearby
galaxies down to 27.3, 26.8, and 26 mag/arcsec^2 respectively, using the ESO
facility VST/OmegaCAM. The goals of the survey are 1) to map the light
distribution up to ten effective radii, r_e, 2) to trace color gradients and
surface brightness fluctuation gradients out to a few r_e for stellar
population characterization, and 3) to obtain a full census of the satellite
systems (globular clusters and dwarf galaxies) out to 20% of the galaxy virial
radius. The external regions of galaxies retain signatures of the formation and
evolution mechanisms that shaped them, and the study of nearby objects enables
a detailed analysis of their morphology and interaction features. To clarify
the complex variety of formation mechanisms of early-type galaxies (ETGs), wide
and deep photometry is the primary observational step, which at the moment has
been pursued with only a few dedicated programs. The VEGAS survey has been
designated to provide these data for a volume-limited sample with exceptional
image quality. In this commissioning photometric paper we illustrate the
capabilities of the survey using g- and i-band VST/OmegaCAM images of the
nearby galaxy NGC 4472 and of smaller ETGs in the surrounding field. Our
surface brightness profiles reach rather faint levels and agree excellently
well with previous literature. Genuine new results concern the detection of an
intracluster light tail in NGC 4472 and of various substructures at increasing
scales. We have also produced extended (g-i) color profiles.
  The VST/OmegaCAM data that we acquire in the context of the VEGAS survey
provide a detailed view of substructures in the optical emission from extended
galaxies, which can be as faint as a hundred times below the sky level.
