Context. The Milky Way (MW) bulge is a fundamental Galactic component for understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies, in particular our own. The ESO Public Survey VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea is a deep near-IR survey mapping the Galactic bulge and southern plane. Particularly for the bulge area, VVV is covering ∼315 deg 2 . Data taken during 2010 and 2011 covered the entire bulge area in the JHK s bands. Aims. We used VVV data for the whole bulge area as a single and homogeneous data set to build for the first time a single colour−magnitude diagram (CMD) for the entire Galactic bulge. Methods. Photometric data in the JHK s bands were combined to produce a single and huge data set containing 173 150 467 sources in the three bands, for the ∼315 deg 2 covered by VVV in the bulge. Selecting only the data points flagged as stellar, the total number of sources is 84 095 284. Results. We built the largest colour-magnitude diagrams published up to date, containing 173.1+ million sources for all data points, and more than 84.0 million sources accounting for the stellar sources only. The CMD has a complex shape, mostly owing to the complexity of the stellar population and the effects of extinction and reddening towards the Galactic centre. The red clump (RC) giants are seen double in magnitude at b ∼ −8• −10 • , while in the inner part (b ∼ −3 • ) they appear to be spreading in colour, or even splitting into a secondary peak. Stellar population models show the predominance of main-sequence and giant stars. The analysis of the outermost bulge area reveals a well-defined sequence of late K and M dwarfs, seen at (J − K s ) ∼ 0.7−0.9 mag and K s 14 mag. Conclusions. The interpretation of the CMD yields important information about the MW bulge, showing the fingerprint of its structure and content. We report a well-defined red dwarf sequence in the outermost bulge, which is important for the planetary transit searches of VVV. The double RC in magnitude seen in the outer bulge is the signature of the X-shaped MW bulge, while the spreading of the RC in colour, and even its splitting into a secondary peak, are caused by reddening effects. The region around the Galactic centre is harder to interpret because it is strongly affected by reddening and extinction.

Context. VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea (VVV) is one of the six ESO Public Surveys operating on the new 4-m Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA). VVV is scanning the Milky Way bulge and an adjacent section of the disk, where star formation activity is high. One of the principal goals of the VVV Survey is to find new star clusters of different ages. Aims. In order to trace the early epochs of star cluster formation we concentrated our search in the directions to those of known star formation regions, masers, radio, and infrared sources. Methods. The disk area covered by VVV was visually inspected using the pipeline processed and calibrated K S -band tile images for stellar overdensities. Subsequently, we examined the composite JHK S and Z JK S color images of each candidate. PSF photometry of 15 × 15 arcmin fields centered on the candidates was then performed on the Cambridge Astronomy Survey Unit reduced images. After statistical field-star decontamination, color-magnitude and color-color diagrams were constructed and analyzed. Results. We report the discovery of 96 new infrared open clusters and stellar groups. Most of the new cluster candidates are faint and compact (with small angular sizes), highly reddened, and younger than 5 Myr. For relatively well populated cluster candidates we derived their fundamental parameters such as reddening, distance, and age by fitting the solar-metallicity Padova isochrones to the color-magnitude diagrams.

Context. Globular clusters trace the formation and evolution of the Milky Way and surrounding galaxies, and outline their chemical enrichment history. To accomplish these tasks it is important to have large samples of clusters with homogeneous data and analysis to derive kinematics, chemical abundances, ages and locations. Aims. We obtain homogeneous metallicities and α-element enhancement for 51 Galactic bulge, disc, and halo globular clusters that are among the most distant and/or highly reddened in the Galaxy's globular cluster system. We also provide membership selection based on stellar radial velocities and atmospheric parameters. The implications of our results are discussed. Methods. We observed R ∼ 2000 spectra in the wavelength interval 456-586 nm for over 800 red giant stars in 51 Galactic globular clusters. We applied full spectrum fitting with the code ETOILE together with libraries of observed and synthetic spectra. We compared the mean abundances of all clusters with previous work and with field stars. We used the relation between mean metallicity and horizontal branch morphology defined by all clusters to select outliers for discussion. Results. [Fe/H], [Mg/Fe], and [α/Fe] were derived in a consistent way for almost one-third of all Galactic globular clusters. We find our metallicities are comparable to those derived from high-resolution data to within σ = 0.08 dex over the interval −2.5 < [Fe/H] < 0.0. Furthermore, a comparison of previous metallicity scales with our values yields σ < 0.16 dex. We also find that the distribution of [Mg/Fe] and [α/Fe] with [Fe/H] for the 51 clusters follows the general trend exhibited by field stars. It is the first time that the following clusters have been included in a large sample of homogeneous stellar spectroscopic observations and metallicity derivation: BH 176, Djorg 2, Pal 10, NGC 6426, Lynga 7, and Terzan 8. In particular, only photometric metallicities were available previously for the first three clusters, and the available metallicity for NGC 6426 was based on integrated spectroscopy and photometry. Two other clusters, HP 1 and NGC 6558, are confirmed as candidates for the oldest globular clusters in the Milky Way. Conclusions. Stellar spectroscopy in the visible at R ∼ 2000 for a large sample of globular clusters is a robust and efficient way to trace the chemical evolution of the host galaxy and to detect interesting objects for follow-up at higher resolution and with forthcoming giant telescopes. The technique used here can also be applied to globular cluster systems in nearby galaxies with current instruments and to distant galaxies with the advent of ELTs.