  This paper presents a new strategy for observing faint galaxies with high
order natural guide star systems. We have imaged 5 high galactic latitude
fields within the isoplanatic patch of bright stars (8.5 < R < 10.3 mag). The
fields provide a rich set of faint field galaxies that are observable with a
natural guide star adaptive optics system on a large telescope. Due to the
small fields of many AO science cameras, these preliminary images are necessary
to identify candidate galaxies. We present the photometry and positions for 78
objects (at least 40 galaxies) near five bright stars, appropriate for
diffraction limited studies with the Keck and other AO systems on large
ground-based telescopes. The K band seeing conditions in each field were
excellent (0.4" - 0.7") allowing us to identify stars and estimate galaxy
sizes. We also simulate AO images of field galaxies to determine the
feasibility of infrared morphological studies at the diffraction limit. With
new high order AO systems coming on line with 8-10 meter class telescopes, we
believe these observations are invaluable in beginning to study faint galaxy
populations at the diffraction limit.
