  We present a new catalog of merging galaxies obtained through an automated
systematic search routine. The 1479 new pairs of merging galaxies were found in
approximately 462 sq deg of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Early Data Release
(SDSS EDR; Stoughton et al. 2002) photometric data, and the pair catalog is
complete for galaxies in the magnitude range 16.0 <= g* <= 20.
  The selection algorithm, implementing a variation on the original
Karachentsev (1972) criteria, proved to be very efficient and fast. Merging
galaxies were selected such that the inter-galaxy separations were less than
the sum of the component galaxies' radii.
  We discuss the characteristics of the sample in terms of completeness, pair
separation, and the Holmberg effect. We also present an online atlas of images
for the SDSS EDR pairs obtained using the corrected frames from the SDSS EDR
database. The atlas images also include the relevant data for each pair member.
  This catalog will be useful for conducting studies of the general
characteristics of merging galaxies, their environments, and their component
galaxies. The redshifts for a subset of the interacting and merging galaxies
and the distribution of angular sizes for these systems indicate the SDSS
provides a much deeper sample than almost any other wide-area catalog to date.
