A NEW SAMPLE OF OH IR STARS IN THE GALACTIC-CENTER/

Two independent, largely overlapping 1612 MHz data sets were searched for OH/IR stars in the Galactic center. One set, taken with the Very L arge Array in the period 1988 to 1991, consists of 17 epochs monitorin g data of Van Langevelde et al. (1993). The other set was observed in 1994, using the Australia Telescope Compact Array. This article descri bes the data reduction procedures as well as a different way of search ing image cubes for narrow line sources, and lists(1) a total of 155 d ouble peak OH maser detections within 18' or 40 projected parsecs of S agittarius A, the compact radio continuum source in the Galactic nucl eus. Presented are 65 formerly unseen double peaked 1612 MHz emitters, of which 52 are OH/IR stars. Also given are 3 single peak sources; wh ich we believe to be masers of OH/IR stars. Apart from being less brig ht in their 1612 MHz OH maser line, the previously unknown OH/IR stars do not seem to be different from the previously known population of O H/IR stars in the Galactic center. We find that the OH/IR star OH mase r luminosity distribution peaks at L-OH approximate to 10(43.4) photon s per second. Further physical and kinematical analysis of the new sam ple will be presented in additional papers.