LUMINOSITY FUNCTION OF THE PERIGALACTOCENTRIC REGION

We present H and K photometry of similar to 42,000 stars in an area of similar to 250 arcmin(2) centered on the Galactic center. We use the photometry to construct a dereddened K-band luminosity function (LF) f or this region, excluding the excessively crowded inner 2' of the Gala xy. This LF is intermediate between the LF of Baade's window and the L F of inner 2' of the Galactic center. We speculate that the bright sta rs in this region have an age that is intermediate between the starbur st population in the Galactic center and the old bulge population. We present the coordinates and magnitude for 16 stars with K-0 less than or equal to 5 for spectroscopic follow-up.