New star clusters projected close to the Galactic Centre

Abstract

We carried out a systematic search for new star clusters in a field of 5${}^{\circ }\times 5^{\circ }$ centred close to the Galactic Nucleus using the infrared JHK${}_s$ 2MASS Survey archive. In addition we searched for embedded clusters in the directions of HII regions and dark clouds for $|\ell |\le 4^{\circ }$. As a result we present a list of 58 IR star clusters or candidates. We provide positions, sizes and reddening estimated from 100 $\mu$m dust emission. Their angular distribution together with previously catalogued objects in the region and possible relation with star forming complexes are also discussed.

manuscript in LATEX with 4 pages, 4 figures .ps Accepted for Astronomy and Astrophysics main journal