# New Compact Star Cluster Candidates in the Galactic Plane

## TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of 125 new compact star cluster candidates in the Milky Way's Galactic Plane using deep infrared surveys, significantly expanding the known sample of distant, young clusters obscured by dust.

## Contribution

It introduces a systematic method for identifying previously unknown compact star clusters in infrared survey data, enhancing the completeness of the Galactic cluster catalog.

## Key findings

- 125 new cluster candidates identified
- Clusters are typically young and located 1-10kpc away
- Clusters have an average apparent radius of 25 arcseconds

## Abstract

The sample of known star clusters, the fundamental building blocks of galaxies, in the Milky Way is still extremely incomplete for objects beyond a distance of 1-2kpc. Many of the more distant and young clusters are compact and hidden behind large amounts of extinction. We thus utilised the deep high resolution near infrared surveys UGPS and VVV to uncover so far unknown compact clusters and to analyse their properties. Images of all objects in the area covered by these two surveys, and which are listed as Galaxy in SIMBAD have been inspected and 125 so far unknown stellar clusters and candidate clusters have been identified. Based on the frequent associations with star formation indicators (nebulosities, IRAS sources, Hii regions, masers) we find that the typical cluster in our sample is young, at distances between 1-10kpc and has a typical apparent radius of 25arcsec. We suggest more systematic searches e.g. at all positions of 2MASS extended sources to increase the completeness of the known cluster sample beyond distances of 2kpc.