Examinando por Autor "Lucas, P.W."
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Ítem A new near-IR window of low extinction in the Galactic plane(EDP Sciences, 2018-08) Minniti, D.; Saito, R.K.; Gonzalez, O.A.; Alonso-García, J.; Rejkuba, M.; Barbá, R.; Irwin, M.; Kammers, R.; Lucas, P.W.; Majaess, D.; Valenti, E.Aims. The windows of low extinction in the Milky Way (MW) plane are rare but important because they enable us to place structural constraints on the opposite side of the Galaxy, which has hither to been done rarely. Methods. We use the near-infrared (near-IR) images of the VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea (VVV) Survey to build extinction maps and to identify low extinction windows towards the Southern Galactic plane. Here we report the discovery of VVV WIN 1713-3939, a very interesting window with relatively uniform and low extinction conveniently placed very close to the Galactic plane. Results. The new window of roughly 30 arcmin diameter is located at Galactic coordinates (l, b) = (347.4, -0.4) deg. We analyse the VVV near-IR colour-magnitude diagrams in this window. The mean total near-IR extinction and reddening values measured for this window are A Ks = 0.46 and E(J - K s ) = 0.95. The red clump giants within the window show a bimodal magnitude distribution in the K s band, with peaks at K s = 14.1 and 14.8 mag, corresponding to mean distances of D = 11.0 ± 2.4 and 14.8 ± 3.6 kpc, respectively. We discuss the origin of these red clump overdensities within the context of the MW disk structure. © ESO 2018.Ítem A population of eruptive variable protostars in VVV(OXFORD UNIV PRESS, 2016-11) Contreras Peña, C.; Lucas, P.W.; Minniti, D.; Kurtev, R.; Stimson, W.; Navarro Molina, C.; Borissova, J.; Kumar, M.S.N.; Thompson, M.A.; Gledhill, T.; Terzi, R.; Froebrich, D.; Caratti o Garatti, A.We present the discovery of 816 high-amplitude infrared variable stars (ΔKs > 1 mag) in 119 deg2 of the Galactic mid-plane covered by the VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) survey. Almost all are new discoveries and about 50 per cent are young stellar objects (YSOs). This provides further evidence that YSOs are the commonest high-amplitude infrared variable stars in the Galactic plane. In the 2010-2014 time series of likely YSOs, we find that the amplitude of variability increases towards younger evolutionary classes (class I and flatspectrum sources) except on short time-scales (< 25 d) where this trend is reversed. Dividing the likely YSOs by light-curve morphology, we find 106 with eruptive light curves, 45 dippers, 39 faders, 24 eclipsing binaries, 65 long-term periodic variables (P > 100 d) and 162 shortterm variables. Eruptive YSOs and faders tend to have the highest amplitudes and eruptive systems have the reddest spectral energy distribution (SEDs). Follow-up spectroscopy in a companion paper verifies high accretion rates in the eruptive systems. Variable extinction is disfavoured by the two epochs of colour data. These discoveries increase the number of eruptive variable YSOs by a factor of at least 5, most being at earlier stages of evolution than the known FUor and EXor types. We find that eruptive variability is at least an order of magnitude more common in class I YSOs than class II YSOs. Typical outburst durations are 1-4 yr, between those of EXors and FUors. They occur in 3-6 per cent of class I YSOs over a 4 yr time spanÍtem An Automated Tool to Detect Variable Sources in the Vista Variables in the Vía Láctea Survey: The VVV Variables (V4) Catalog of Tiles d001 and d002(Institute of Physics Publishing, 2018-09) Medina, N.; Borissova, J.; Bayo, A.; Kurtev, R.; Navarro Molina, C.; Kuhn, M.; Kumar, N.; Lucas, P.W.; Catelan, M.; Minniti, D.; Smith, L.C.Time-varying phenomena are one of the most substantial sources of astrophysical information, and their study has led to many fundamental discoveries in modern astronomy. We have developed an automated tool to search for and analyze variable sources in the near-infrared K s band using the data from the VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea (VVV) ESO Public Large Survey. This process relies on the characterization of variable sources using different variability indices calculated from time series generated with point-spread function (PSF) photometry of sources under analysis. In particular, we used two main indices, the total amplitude and the eta index η, to identify variable sources. Once the variable objects are identified, periods are determined with generalized Lomb-Scargle periodograms and the information potential metric. Variability classes are assigned according to a compromise between comparisons with VVV templates and the period of the variability. The automated tool is applied on VVV tiles d001 and d002 and led to the discovery of 200 variable sources. We detected 70 irregular variable sources and 130 periodic ones. In addition, nine open-cluster candidates projected in the region are analyzed, and the infrared variable candidates found around these clusters are further scrutinized by cross-matching their locations against emission star candidates from VPHAS+ survey Hα color cuts. © 2018. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.Ítem Characterization of the VVV Survey RR Lyrae Population across the Southern Galactic Plane(IOP PUBLISHING, 2017-03) Minniti, D.; Dékány, I.; Majaess, D.; Palma, T.; Pullen, J.; Rejkuba, M.; Alonso-García, J.; Catelan, M.; Contreras Ramos, R.; Gonzalez, O.A.; Hempel, M.; Irwin, M.l; Lucas, P.W.; Saito, R.K.; Tissera, P.; Valenti, E.; Zoccali, M.Deep near-IR images from the VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) Survey were used to search for RR Lyrae stars in the Southern Galactic plane. A sizable sample of 404 RR Lyrae of type ab stars was identified across a thin slice of the fourth Galactic quadrant (295 degrees < l < 350 degrees, -2 degrees.24 < b < -1 degrees.05). The sample's distance distribution exhibits a maximum density that occurs at the bulge tangent point, which implies that this primarily Oosterhoff type I population of RRab stars does not trace the bar delineated by their red clump counterparts. The bulge RR Lyrae population does not extend beyond l similar to 340 degrees, and the sample's spatial distribution presents evidence of density enhancements and substructure that warrants further investigation. Indeed, the sample may be employed to evaluate Galactic evolution models, and is particularly lucrative since half of the discovered RR Lyrae are within reach of Gaia astrometric observations.Ítem Discovery of a brown dwarf companion to the A3V star β Circini(Oxford University Press, 2015-12) Smith, L.C.; Lucas, P.W.; Contreras Peña, C.; Kurtev, R.; Marocco, F.; Jones, H.R.A.; Beamin, J.C.; Napiwotzki, R.; Borissova, J.; Burningham, B.; Faherty, J.; Pinfield, D.J.; Gromadzki, M.; Ivanov, V.D.; Minniti, D.; Stimson, W.; Villanueva, V.We report the discovery of an L dwarf companion to the A3V star β Circini. VVV J151721.49−585131.5, or β Cir B, was identified in a proper motion and parallax catalogue of the VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea survey as having near-infrared luminosity and colour indicative of an early L dwarf, and a proper motion and parallax consistent with that of β Cir. The projected separation of ∼3.6 arcmin corresponds to 6656 au, which is unusually wide. The most recent published estimate of the age of the primary combined with our own estimate based on newer isochrones yields an age of 370–500 Myr. The system therefore serves as a useful benchmark at an age greater than that of the Pleiades brown dwarfs and most other young L dwarf benchmarks. We have obtained a medium resolution echelle spectrum of the companion which indicates a spectral type of L1.0 ± 0.5 and lacks the typical signatures of low-surface gravity seen in younger brown dwarfs. This suggests that signs of low-surface gravity disappear from the spectra of early L dwarfs by an age of ∼370–500 Myr, as expected from theoretical isochrones. The mass of β Cir B is estimated from the BHAC15 isochrones as 0.056 ± 0.007 M⊙.Ítem Extinction ratios in the inner Galaxy as revealed by the VVV survey(Institute of Physics Publishing, 2017-11) Alonso-García, J.; Minniti, D.; Catelan, M.; Contreras Ramos, R.; Gonzalez, O.A.; Hempel, M.; Lucas, P.W.; Saito, R.K.; Valenti, E.; Zoccali, M.Interstellar extinction toward the Galactic Center (GC) is large and significantly differential. Its reddening and dimming effects in red clump (RC) stars in the Galactic Bulge can be exploited to better constrain the extinction law toward the innermost Galaxy. By virtue of a deep and complete catalog of more than 30 million objects at |l| ≤ 2°.7 and |b| ≤ 1°.55 obtained from VVV survey observations, we apply the RC method to infer the selective-to-total extinction ratios in the Z, Y, J, H, and Ks broadband near-infrared filters. The measured values are smaller than previously reported, and are not constant, with mean values of, e.g., AKS /E(J - Ks) = 0.428 ± 0.005 ± 0.04 and AKS/ E(H Ks) = 1.104 ± 0.022 ± 0.2. We also obtain a ratio AZ:AY:AJ:AH:AKS of 7.74:5.38:3.30:1.88:1.0, implying extinction toward the GC to follow a distribution as a function of wavelength steeper than previously reported, consistent with a power law Aλ ∝ λ -2.47 in the near-infrared.Ítem Infrared spectroscopy of eruptive variable protostars from VVV(OXFORD UNIV PRESS, 2017-03) Contreras Peña, C.; Lucas, P.W.; Kurtev, R.; Minniti, D.; Caratti o Garatti, A.; Marocco, F.; Thompson, M.A.; Froebrich, D.; Kumar, M.; Stimson, W.; Navarro Molina, C.; Borissova, J.; Gledhill, T.; Terzi, R.In a companion work (Paper I), we detected a large population of highly variable Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) in the Vista Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) survey, typically with class I or flat spectrum spectral energy distributions and diverse light-curve types. Here we present infrared spectra (0.9-2.5 mu m) of 37 of these variables, many of them observed in a bright state. The spectra confirm that 15/18 sources with eruptive light curves have signatures of a high accretion rate, either showing EXor-like emission features (Delta v = 2 CO, Br gamma.) and/or FUor-like features (Delta v = 2 CO and H2O strongly in absorption). Similar features were seen in some long-term periodic YSOs and faders but not in dippers or short-term variables. The sample includes some dusty Mira variables (typically distinguished by smooth Mira-like light curves), two cataclysmic variables and a carbon star. In total, we have added 19 new objects to the broad class of eruptive variable YSOs with episodic accretion. Eruptive variable YSOs in our sample that were observed at bright states show higher accretion luminosities than the rest of the sample. Most of the eruptive variables differ from the established FUor and EXor subclasses, showing intermediate outburst durations and a mixture of their spectroscopic characteristics. This is in line with a small number of other recent discoveries. Since these previously atypical objects are now the majority amongst embedded members of the class, we propose a new classification for them as MNors. This term (pronounced emnor) follows V1647 Ori, the illuminating star of McNeil's Nebula.Ítem Large-amplitude periodic outbursts and long-period variables in the VVV VIRAC2-β data base(Oxford University Press, 2022-06-01) Guo, Zhen; Lucas, P.W.; Smith, L.C.; Clarke, C.; Contreras, Penã C.; Bayo, A.; Bricenõ, C.; Elias, J.; Kurtev, R.G.; Borissova, J.; Alonso-Garciá, J.; Minniti, D.; Catelan, M.; Nikzat, F.; Morris, C.; Miller, N.The VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) survey obtained near-infrared photometry towards the Galactic bulge and the southern disc plane for a decade (2010-2019). We designed a modified Lomb-Scargle method to search for large-amplitude (Δ Ks, 2-98 per cent > 1.5 mag) mid to long-term periodic variables (P> 10 d) in the 2nd version of VVV Infrared Astrometric Catalogue (VIRAC2-β). In total, 1520 periodic sources were discovered, including 59 candidate periodic outbursting young stellar objects (YSOs), based on the unique morphology of the phase-folded light curves, proximity to Galactic H ii regions and mid-infrared colours. Five sources are spectroscopically confirmed as accreting YSOs. Both fast-rise/slow-decay and slow-rise/fast-decay periodic outbursts were found, but fast-rise/slow-decay outbursts predominate at the highest amplitudes. The multiwavelength colour variations are consistent with a variable mass accretion process, as opposed to variable extinction. The cycles are likely to be caused by dynamical perturbations from stellar or planetary companions within the circumstellar disc. An additional search for periodic variability amongst YSO candidates in published Spitzer-based catalogues yielded a further 71 candidate periodic accretors, mostly with lower amplitudes. These resemble cases of pulsed accretion but with unusually long periods and greater regularity. The majority of other long-period variables are pulsating dusty Miras with smooth and symmetric light curves. We find that some Miras have redder W3-W4 colours than previously thought, most likely due to their surface chemical compositions. © 2022 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society.Ítem Milky Way demographics with the VVV survey: IV. PSF photometry from almost one billion stars in the Galactic bulge and adjacent southern disk(EDP Sciences, 2018-11) Alonso-García, J.; Saito, R.K.; Hempel, M.; Minniti, D.; Pullen, J.; Catelan, M.; Ramos, R.C.; Cross, N.J.G.; Gonzalez, O.A.; Lucas, P.W.; Palma, T.; Valenti, E.; Zoccali, M.Context. The inner regions of the Galaxy are severely affected by extinction, which limits our capability to study the stellar populations present there. The Vista Variables in the Vía Láctea (VVV) ESO Public Survey has observed this zone at near-infrared wavelengths where reddening is highly diminished. Aims. By exploiting the high resolution and wide field-of-view of the VVV images we aim to produce a deep, homogeneous, and highly complete database of sources that cover the innermost regions of our Galaxy. Methods. To better deal with the high crowding in the surveyed areas, we have used point spread function (PSF)-fitting techniques to obtain a new photometry of the VVV images, in the ZY JHKs near-infrared filters available. Results. Our final catalogs contain close to one billion sources, with precise photometry in up to five near-infrared filters, and they are already being used to provide an unprecedented view of the inner Galactic stellar populations. We make these catalogs publicly available to the community. Our catalogs allow us to build the VVV giga-CMD, a series of color-magnitude diagrams of the inner regions of the Milky Way presented as supplementary videos. We provide a qualitative analysis of some representative CMDs of the inner regions of the Galaxy, and briefly mention some of the studies we have developed with this new dataset so far. © ESO 2018.Ítem New Galactic star clusters discovered in the disc area of the VVVX survey(Oxford University Press, 2018-12) Borissova, J.; Ivanov, V.D.; Lucas, P.W.; Kurtev, R.; Alonso-Garcia, J.; Ramírez Alegría, S.; Minniti, D.; Froebrich, D.; Hempel, M.; Medina, N.; Chené, A.-N.; Kuhn, M.A.The 'VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea eXtended (VVVX)' ESO Public Survey is a nearinfrared photometric sky survey that covers nearly 1700 deg2 towards the Galactic disc and bulge. It is well-suited to search for newopen clusters, hidden behind dust and gas. The pipeline processed and calibrated KS-band tile images of 40 per cent of the disc area covered by VVVX was visually inspected for stellar overdensities. Then, we identified cluster candidates by examination of the composite JHKS colour images. The colour-magnitude diagrams of the cluster candidates are constructed. Whenever possible the Gaia DR2 parameters are used to calculate the mean proper motions, radial velocities, reddening and distances. We report the discovery of 120 new infrared clusters and stellar groups. Approximately half of them (47 per cent) are faint, compact, highly reddened, and they seem to be associated with other indicators of recent star formation, such as nearby Young Stellar Objects, Masers, HII regions or bubbles. The preliminary distance determinations allow us to trace the clusters up to 4.5 kpc, but most of the cluster candidates are centred at 2.2 kpc. The mean proper motions of the clusters show that in general they follow the disc motion of the Galaxy. © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.Ítem New VVV Survey Globular Cluster Candidates in the Milky Way Bulge(Institute of Physics Publishing, 2017-11) Minniti, D.; Geisler, D.; Alonso-Garcia, J.; Palma, T.; Beamin, J.C.; Borissova, J.; Catelan, M.; Clariá, J.J.; Cohen, R.E.; Ramos, R.C.; Dias, B.; Fernández-Trincado, J.G.; Gómez, M.; Hempel, M.; Ivanov, V.D.; Kurtev, R.; Lucas, P.W.; Moni-Bidin, C.; Pullen, J.; Alegria, S.R.; Saito, R.K.; Valenti, E.It is likely that a number of Galactic globular clusters remain to be discovered, especially toward the Galactic bulge. High stellar density combined with high and differential interstellar reddening are the two major problems for finding globular clusters located toward the bulge. We use the deep near-IR photometry of the VISTA Variables in the Via Láctea (VVV) Survey to search for globular clusters projected toward the Galactic bulge, and hereby report the discovery of 22 new candidate globular clusters. These objects, detected as high density regions in our maps of bulge red giants, are confirmed as globular cluster candidates by their color-magnitude diagrams. We provide their coordinates as well as their near-IR color-magnitude diagrams, from which some basic parameters are derived, such as reddenings and heliocentric distances. The color-magnitude diagrams reveal well defined red giant branches in all cases, often including a prominent red clump. The new globular cluster candidates exhibit a variety of extinctions (0.06 < A Ks < 2.77) and distances (5.3 < D < 9.5 kpc). We also classify the globular cluster candidates into 10 metal-poor and 12 metal-rich clusters, based on the comparison of their color-magnitude diagrams with those of known globular clusters also observed by the VVV Survey. Finally, we argue that the census for Galactic globular clusters still remains incomplete, and that many more candidate globular clusters (particularly the low luminosity ones) await to be found and studied in detail in the central regions of the Milky Way.Ítem Searching for faint comoving companions to the a Centauri system in the VVV survey infrared images(Oxford University Press, 2017-12) Beamín, J.C.; Minniti, D.; Pullen, J.B.; Ivanov, V.D.; Bendek, E.; Bayo, A.; Gromadzki, M.; Kurtev, R.; Lucas, P.W.; Butler, R.P.The VVV survey has observed the southern disc of the MilkyWay in the near-infrared, covering 240 deg2 in the ZYJHKs filters. We search the VVV survey images in a ~19 deg2 field around α Centauri, the nearest stellar system to the Sun, to look for possible overlooked companions that the baseline in time of VVV would be able to uncover. The photometric depth of our search reaches Y ~ 19.3mag, J ~ 19 mag, and Ks ~ 17 mag. This search has yielded no new companions in a Centauri system, setting an upper mass limit for any unseen companion well into the brown dwarf/planetary mass regime. The apparent magnitude limits were turned into effective temperature limits, and the presence of companion objects with effective temperatures warmer than 325K can be ruled out using different state-of-the-art atmospheric models. These limits were transformed into mass limits using evolutionary models, companions with masses above 11MJup were discarded, extending the constraints recently provided in the literature up to projected distances of d < 7000 au from a Cen AB and ~1 200 au from Proxima. In the next few years, the VVV extended survey (VVVX) will allow us to extend the search and place similar limits on brown dwarfs/planetary companions to a Cen AB for separations up to 20 000 au. © Crown copyright 2017.Ítem The Emergence of the Infrared Transient VVV-WIT-06(Institute of Physics Publishing, 2017-11) Minniti, D.; Saito, R.K.; Forster, F.; Pignata, G.; Ivanov, V.D.; Lucas, P.W.; Beamin, J.C.; Borissova, J.; Catelan, M.; Gonzalez, O.A.; Hempel, M.; Hsiao, E.; Kurtev, R.; Majaess, D.; Masetti, N.; Morrell, N.I.; Phillips, M.M.; Pullen, J.B.; Rejkuba, M.; Smith, L.; Surot, F.; Valenti, E.; Zoccali, M.We report the discovery of an enigmatic large-amplitude (ΔKs >10.5 mag) transient event in near-IR data obtained by the VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) ESO Public Survey. The object (designated VVV-WIT- 06) is located at R.A.=17:07:18.917, decl.=-39:06:26.45 (J2000), corresponding to Galactic coordinates l=347.14539, b=0.88522. It exhibits a clear eruption, peaking at Ks=9 mag during 2013 July and fading to Ks ∼ 16.5 in 2017. Our late near-IR spectra show post-outburst emission lines, including some broad emission lines (upward of FWHM ∼ 3000 km s-1). We estimate a total extinction of AV = 10-15 mag in the surrounding field, and no progenitor was observed in ZYJHKs images obtained during 2010-2012 (down to Ks > 18.5mag). Subsequent deep near-IR imaging and spectroscopy, in concert with the available multiband photometry, indicate that VVV-WIT-06 may be either: (i) the closest Type I SN observed in about 400 years, (ii) an exotic highamplitude nova that would extend the known realm of such objects, or (iii) a stellar merger. In all of these cases, VVV-WIT-06 is a fascinating and curious astrophysical target under any of the scenarios considered.Ítem The VVV open cluster project - II. Near-infrared sequences of 37 open clusters on eight-dimensional parameter space(Oxford University Press, 2022-07-01) Ramírez, K. Pena; Smith, L.C.; Alegría, S. Ramírez; Chené, A.-N.; González Fernández, C.; Lucas, P.W.; Minniti, D.Open clusters are key coeval structures that help us understand star formation, stellar evolution and trace the physical properties of our Galaxy. In the past years, the isolation of open clusters from the field has been heavily alleviated by the access to accurate large-scale stellar parallaxes and proper motions along a determined line of sight. Still, there are limitations regarding their completeness since large-scale studies rely on optical wavelengths. Here, we extend the open clusters sequences towards fainter magnitudes complementing the Gaia photometric and astrometric information with near-infrared data from the VVV survey. We performed a homogeneous analysis on 37 open clusters implementing two coarse-to-fine characterization methods: extreme deconvolution Gaussian mixture models coupled with an unsupervised machine learning method on eight-dimensional parameter space. The process allowed us to separate the clusters from the field at near-infrared wavelengths. We report an increase of ∼47 per cent new member candidates on average in our sample (considering only sources with high membership probability p ≳ 0.9). This study is the second in a series intended to reveal open cluster near-infrared sequences homogeneously. © 2022 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society.Ítem VIRAC: The VVV Infrared Astrometric Catalogue(Oxford University Press, 2018) Smith, L.C.; Lucas, P.W.; Kurtev, R.; Smart, R.; Minniti, D.; Borissova, J.; Jones, H.R.A.; Zhang, Z.H.; Marocco, F.; Contreras Peña, C.; Gromadzki, M.; Kuhn, M.A.; Drew, J.E.; Pinfield, D.J.; Bedin, L.R.We present VIRAC version 1, a near-infrared proper motion and parallax catalogue of the VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) survey for 312 587 642 unique sources averaged across all overlapping pawprint and tile images covering 560 deg2 of the bulge of the MilkyWay and southern disc. The catalogue includes 119 million high-quality proper motion measurements, of which 47 million have statistical uncertainties below 1 mas yr-1. In the 11 < Ks < 14 magnitude range, the high-quality motions have a median uncertainty of 0.67 mas yr-1. The catalogue also includes 6935 sources with quality-controlled 5s parallaxes with a median uncertainty of 1.1 mas. The parallaxes show reasonable agreement with the Tycho- Gaia Astrometric Solution, though caution is advised for data with modest significance. The SQL data base housing the data is made available via the web. We give example applications for studies of Galactic structure, nearby objects (low-mass stars and brown dwarfs, subdwarfs, white dwarfs) and kinematic distance measurements of young stellar objects. Nearby objects discovered include LTT 7251 B, an L7 benchmark companion to a G dwarf with over 20 published elemental abundances, a bright L subdwarf, VVV 1256-6202, with extremely blue colours and nine new members of the 25 pc sample. We also demonstrate why this catalogue remains useful in the era of Gaia. Future versions will be based on profile fitting photometry, use the Gaia absolute reference frame and incorporate the longer time baseline of the VVV extended survey.Ítem VVV high proper motion stars – I. The catalogue of bright KS ≤ 13.5 stars(OXFORD UNIV PRESS, 2016-09) Kurtev, R.; Gromadzki, M.; Beamín, J.C.; Folkes, S.L.; Pena Ramirez, K.; Ivanov, V.D.; Borissova, J.; Villanueva, V.; Minniti, D.; Mendez, R.; Lucas, P.W.; Smith, L.C.; Pinfield, D.J.; Kuhn, M.A.; Jones, H.R.A.; Antonova, A.; Yip, A.K.P.Knowledge of the stellar content near the Sun is important for a broad range of topics ranging from the search for planets to the study of Milky Way (MW) structure. The most powerful method for identifying potentially nearby stars is proper motion (PM) surveys. All old optical surveys avoid, or are at least substantially incomplete, near the Galactic plane. The depth and breadth of the 'VISTA Variables in Vía Láctea' (VVV) near-IR survey significantly improves this situation. Taking advantage of the VVV survey data base, we have measured PMs in the densest regions of the MW bulge and southern plane in order to complete the census of nearby objects. We have developed a custom PM pipeline based on VVV catalogues from the Cambridge Astronomy Survey Unit, by comparing the first epoch of JHKS with the multiepoch KS bands acquired later. Taking advantage of the large time baseline between the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) and the VVV observations, we also obtained 2MASS-VVV PMs.We present a near-IR PMcatalogue for the whole area of theVVVsurvey, which includes 3003 moving stellar sources. All of these have been visually inspected and are real PM objects. Our catalogue is in very good agreement with the PM data supplied in IR catalogues outside the densest zone of the MW. The majority of the PM objects in our catalogue are nearby M-dwarfs, as expected. This new data base allows us to identify 57 common PM binary candidates, among which are two new systems within 30 pc of the Sun.Ítem VVVX-Gaia discovery of a low luminosity globular cluster in the Milky Way disk(EDP Sciences, 2020-10) Garro, E.R.; Minniti, D.; Gómez, M.; Alonso-García, J.; Barbá, R.H.; Barbuy, B.; Clariá, J.J.; Chené, A.N.; Dias, B.; Hempel, M.; Ivanov, V.D.; Lucas, P.W.Context. Milky Way globular clusters (GCs) are difficult to identify at low Galactic latitudes because of high differential extinction and heavy star crowding. The new deep near-infrared (IR) images and photometry from the VISTA Variables in the Via Láctea Extended Survey (VVVX) allow us to chart previously unexplored regions. Aims. Our long term aim is to complete the census of Milky Way GCs. The immediate goals are to estimate the astrophysical parameters for the newly discovered GC candidates, measuring their reddenings, extinctions, distances, total luminosities, proper motions, sizes, metallicities, and ages. Methods. We used the near-IR VVVX survey database, in combination with the optical photometry and proper motions (PMs) from Gaia Data Release 2 (DR2), and with the Two Micron All Sky Survey photometry to search for and characterise new GCs within the southern Galactic plane (|b| < 5°). Results. We report the detection of a heretofore unknown Galactic GC at RA = 14:09:00.0; Dec =-65:37:12 (J2000) corresponding to l = 310.828 deg; and b =-3.944 deg in galactic coordinates. We calculate a reddening of E(J-Ks) = (0.3 ± 0.03) mag and an extinction of AKs = (0.15 ± 0.01) mag for this new GC. Its distance modulus and corresponding distance were measured as (m-M) = (15.93 ± 0.03) mag and D = (15.5 ± 1.0) kpc, respectively. We also estimate the metallicity and age by comparison with known GCs and by fitting PARSEC and Dartmouth isochrones, finding [Fe/H] = (-0.70 ± 0.2) dex and t = (11.0 ± 1.0) Gyr. The mean GC PMs from Gaia DR2 are μα∗ = (-4.68 ± 0.47) mas yr-1 and μδ = (-1.34 ± 0.45) mas yr-1. The total luminosity of our cluster is estimated to be MKs = (-7.76 ± 0.5) mag. The core and tidal radii from the radial density profile are rc ∼ 2.1′ (4.6 pc) and rt = 6.5′ (14.6 pc) at the cluster distance. Conclusions. We have found a new low luminosity, old and metal-rich GC, situated in the far side of the Galactic disk at RG = 11.2 kpc from the Galactic centre and at z = 1.0 kpc below the plane. Interestingly, the location, metallicity, and age of this GC are coincident with the Monoceros ring structure. © 2020 ESO.