VVV DR1: The first data release of the Milky Way bulge and southern plane from the near-infrared ESO public survey VISTA variables in the Vía Láctea^⋆

¹ Departamento Astronomía y AstrofísicaPontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Santiago, Chile
e-mail: rsaito@astro.puc.cl
² Vatican Observatory, Vatican City State 00120, Italy
³ Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544-1001, USA
⁴ Centre for Astrophysics Research, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield AL10 9AB, UK
⁵ European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, 85748 Garching, Germany
⁶ Atacama Large Millimeter Array, Alonso de Córdova 3107, Vitacura, Santiago, Chile
⁷ Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
⁸ Institute for Astronomy, The University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK
⁹ European Southern Observatory, Ave. Alonso de Cordova 3107, Casilla 19, 19001 Santiago, Chile
¹⁰ Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
¹¹ Astronomy Unit, School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, UK
¹² Departamento de Física, Universidad de La Serena, Cisternas 1200 Norte, La Serena, Chile
¹³ Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, Edificio C5, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
¹⁴ Laboratório Nacional de Astrofísica, Rua Estados Unidos 154, Itajubá-MG, 37504-364, Brazil
¹⁵ Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental, CONICET, Laprida 922, 5000 Córdoba, Argentina
¹⁶ Centro de Astro-Ingeniería, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Santiago, Chile
¹⁷ INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Bologna, via Ranzani 1, 40127 Bologna, Italy
¹⁸ Warsaw University Observatory, Al. Ujazdowskie 400-478, Warsaw, Poland
¹⁹ Departmento de Astronomía, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 160-C, Concepción, Chile
²⁰ Departamento de Física y Astronomía, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Ave. Gran Bretaña 1111, Playa Ancha, Casilla 5030, Valparaíso, Chile
²¹ Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Laprida 854, 5000 Córdoba, Argentina
²² Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Av. Rivadavia 1917 – CPC1033 AAJ – Buenos Aires, Argentina
²³ Gemini Observatory, Southern Operations Center, c/o AURA, Casilla 603 La Serena, Chile
²⁴ Department of Astronomy, University of Florida, 211 Bryant Space Science Center PO Box 112055, Gainesville, FL, 32611-2055, USA
²⁵ Instituto de Ciencias Astronómicas, del la Tierra y del Espacio (ICATE-CONICET), Av. España Sur 1512, J5402 DSP San Juan, Argentina
²⁶ Universidade de São Paulo, IAG, Rua do Matão 1226, Cidade Universitária, São Paulo 05508-900, Brazil
²⁷ Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, and Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata (IALP–CONICET), Paseo del Bosque S/N, B1900FWA, La Plata, Argentina
²⁸ INAF – Astronomical Observatory of Padova, vicolo dell Osservatorio 5, 35122 Padova, Italy
²⁹ Dipartimento di Astronomia, Universitá di Padova, vicolo dell Osservatorio 3, 35122 Padova, Italy
³⁰ Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, 800 West Main Street, Whitewater, WI 53190, USA
³¹ Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, IF, CP 15051, Porto Alegre 91501-970, RS, Brazil
³² Departamento de Astronomía, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 36-D, Santiago, Chile
³³ Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University, Yi He Yuan Lu 5, Hai Dian District, Beijing 100871, PR China
³⁴ Department of Astronomy and Space Science, Kyung Hee University, Yongin-shi, Kyungki-do 449-701, Republic of Korea
³⁵ Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Königstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
³⁶ Departamento de Física, Ingeniería de Sistemas y Teoría de la Señal, Universidad de Alicante, Apdo. 99, 03080 Alicante, Spain
³⁷ Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking, Surrey, RH5 6NT, UK
³⁸ Department of Physics, University of Cincinnati, PO Box 210011, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0011, USA
³⁹ School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Leeds, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
⁴⁰ NASA-Ames Research Center/Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, MS 244-30, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
⁴¹ UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK
⁴² Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Vía Láctea s/n, E38205 - La Laguna ( Tenerife), Spain
⁴³ Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna, 38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
⁴⁴ School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK
⁴⁵ Saint Marys University, 923 Robie Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
⁴⁶ Centro de Astrobiologia CSIC – INTA, Carretera Torrejón-Ajalvir km 4, 28850, Madrid, Spain
⁴⁷ Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Bologna, via Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy
⁴⁸ Service d’Astrophysique – IRFU, CEA-Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
⁴⁹ Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio, Casilla de Correo 67, Sucursal 28, Buenos Aires, Argentina
⁵⁰ Department of Physics & Astronomy, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
⁵¹ Australian Astronomical Observatory, PO Box 296, Epping, NSW 1710, Australia
⁵² Departamento de Ciencias Fisicas, Universidad Andres Bello, Av. Republica 252, Santiago, Chile
⁵³ South African Astronomical Observatory, PO Box 9, Observatory 7935, Cape Town, South Africa
⁵⁴ Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory, PO Box 443, 1740 Krugersdorp, South Africa
⁵⁵ Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Manora Peak, 263 129 Nainital, India
⁵⁶ The University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7NH, UK
⁵⁷ Gemini Observatory, Northern Operations Center, 670 N. A’ohoku Place, Hilo, Hawaii, 96720, USA
⁵⁸ Division of Optical and Infrared Astronomy, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo, 181-8588, Japan
⁵⁹ Departamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Santiago, Chile

Received: 5 November 2011
Accepted: 22 November 2011

Abstract

Context. The ESO public survey VISTA variables in the Vía Láctea (VVV) started in 2010. VVV targets 562 sq. deg in the Galactic bulge and an adjacent plane region and is expected to run for about five years.

Aims. We describe the progress of the survey observations in the first observing season, the observing strategy, and quality of the data obtained.

Methods. The observations are carried out on the 4-m VISTA telescope in the ZYJHK_s filters. In addition to the multi-band imaging the variability monitoring campaign in the K_s filter has started. Data reduction is carried out using the pipeline at the Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit. The photometric and astrometric calibration is performed via the numerous 2MASS sources observed in each pointing.

Results. The first data release contains the aperture photometry and astrometric catalogues for 348 individual pointings in the ZYJHK_s filters taken in the 2010 observing season. The typical image quality is  ~ $\mathrm{0}\stackrel{\mathrm{″}}{.}\mathrm{9}\mathrm{-}\mathrm{1}\stackrel{\mathrm{″}}{.}\mathrm{0}$. The stringent photometric and image quality requirements of the survey are satisfied in 100% of the JHK_s images in the disk area and 90% of the JHK_s images in the bulge area. The completeness in the Z and Y images is 84% in the disk, and 40% in the bulge. The first season catalogues contain 1.28 × 10⁸ stellar sources in the bulge and 1.68 × 10⁸ in the disk area detected in at least one of the photometric bands. The combined, multi-band catalogues contain more than 1.63 × 10⁸ stellar sources. About 10% of these are double detections because of overlapping adjacent pointings. These overlapping multiple detections are used to characterise the quality of the data. The images in the JHK_s bands extend typically  ~4 mag deeper than 2MASS. The magnitude limit and photometric quality depend strongly on crowding in the inner Galactic regions. The astrometry for K_s = 15−18 mag has rms ~35−175 mas.

Conclusions. The VVV Survey data products offer a unique dataset to map the stellar populations in the Galactic bulge and the adjacent plane and provide an exciting new tool for the study of the structure, content, and star-formation history of our Galaxy, as well as for investigations of the newly discovered star clusters, star-forming regions in the disk, high proper motion stars, asteroids, planetary nebulae, and other interesting objects.