The estimated total number of Milky Way globulars is 160+-20. The question of
whether there are any more undiscovered globular clusters in the Milky Way is
particularly relevant with advances in near and mid-IR instrumentation. This
investigation is a part of a long-term project to search the inner Milky Way
for hidden star clusters and to study them in detail. GLIMPSE-C02 (G02) is one
of these objects, situated near the Galactic plane (l=14.129deg, b=-0.644deg).
Our analysis is based on SOFI/NTT JHKs imaging and low resolution (R~1400)
spectroscopy of three bright cluster red giants in the K atmospheric window. We
derived the metal abundance by analysis of these spectra and from the slope of
the RGB. The cluster is deeply embedded in dust and undergoes a mean reddening
of Av~24.8+-3 mag. The distance to the object is D=4.6+-0.7kpc. The metal
abundance of G02 is [Fe/H](H96)=-0.33+-0.14 and [Fe/H](CG)=-0.16+-0.12 using
different scales. The best fit to the radial surface brightness profile with a
single-mass King's model yields a core radius rc=0.70 arcmin (0.9pc), tidal
radius rt=15 arcmin (20pc), and central oncentration c=1.33. We demonstrate
that G02 is new Milky Way globular cluster, among the most metal rich globular
clusters in the Galaxy. The object is physically located at the inner edge of
the thin disk and the transition region with the bulge, and also falls in the
zone of the "missing" globulars toward the central region of the Milky Way.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
