The inner Galactic globular clusters

Abstract

Galactic globular clusters located towards the inner regions of the Milky Way have been historically neglected, mainly due to the difficulties caused by the presence of an elevated extinction by foreground dust, and high field star densities along the lines of sight where most of them lie. To overcome these difficulties we have developed a new method to map the differential extinction suffered by these clusters, which was successfully applied to a sample of moderately-extincted, luminous, extended, inner Galactic globular clusters observed in the optical, for which we have been able to determine more accurate physical parameters. For the most extincted inner Galactic globular clusters, near-infrared wavelengths provide a more suitable window for their study. The VVV survey, which is currently observing the central regions of the Milky Way at these wavelengths, will provide a comprehensive view, from the inner regions out to their tidal radii and beyond, of most of these globular clusters.