J/A+A/705/A244ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/705/A244CDSObasi C.O.Fernandez-Trincado J.G.Gomez M.Minniti D.Alonso-Garcia J.,Ferreira B.P.L.Garro E.R.Dias B.Saito R.K.Barbuy B.Parisi M.C.,Palma T.Tang B.Ortigoza-Urdaneta M.Baravalle L.D.Alonso M.V.,Mauro F.2026-03-02T06:25:50Z2026-01-23T19:36:42ZCDS support team

CDS, Observatoire de Strasbourg, 11 rue de l'Universite, F-67000 Strasbourg, France

cds-question@unistra.frinfrared-sourcesphotometrysurveysThe VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) and its eXtension VVVX are near-infrared surveys mapping the Galactic bulge and adjacent disk. These datasets have enabled the discovery of numerous star clusters obscured by high and spatially variable extinction. Most previous searches relied on visual inspection of individual tiles, which is inefficient and biased against faint or low-density systems. We aim to develop an automated and homogeneous algorithm for systematic cluster detection across different surveys. Here we apply our method to VVVX data covering low-latitude regions of the Galactic bulge and disk, affected by extinction and crowding. We introduce the Consensus-based Algorithm for Nonparametric Detection of Star Clusters (CANDISC), which integrates kernel density estimation (KDE), density-based spatial clustering (DBSCAN), and nearest-neighbour density estimation (NNDE) within a consensus framework. A stellar overdensity is classified as a candidate when identified by at least two of these methods. We apply CANDISC to 680 tiles in the VVVX PSF photometric catalogue, covering approximately 1100 square degrees. We detect 163 stellar overdensities, of which 118 correspond to known clusters. Cross-matching with recent catalogues yields five additional matches, leaving 40 likely new candidates not present in previous compilations. The estimated false-positive rate is below five percent. CANDISC offers a robust and scalable approach for detecting stellar clusters in deep near-infrared surveys, successfully recovering known systems and revealing new candidates in the obscured and crowded regions of the Galactic plane.2026A&A...705A.244Ohttps://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/705/A244CatalogResearchIsServedByTAP VizieR generic serviceIsServedByConesearch servicerelated-toII/376 : VISTA Variable in the Via Lactea Survey (VVV) DR4.2J/MNRAS/481/3902 : New Galactic clusters in the VVVX disc areaJ/A+A/689/A148 : VVVX tile coordinates (Saito+, 2024)J/ApJS/262/7 : 886 nearby star clusters (He+, 2022)J/ApJS/265/12 : Neighboring open clusters with Gaia DR3 (Qin+, 2023)J/A+A/673/A114 : Improving the open cluster census. II. (Hunt+, 2023)https://cds.unistra.fr/vizier-org/licences_vizier.htmlhttps://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/A+A/705/A244https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/A+A/705/A244http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/A+A/705/A244https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/A+A/705/A244https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/A+A/705/A244http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/A+A/705/A244GETtext/xml+votablehttps://tapvizier.cds.unistra.fr/TAPVizieR/tapCone search capability for table J/A+A/705/A244/tablea3 (Compilation of known VVV/VVVX clusters)https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/J/A+A/705/A244/tablea3?https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/A+A/705/A244/tablea3?http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/A+A/705/A244/tablea3?GETtext/xml+votable180.050000true217.297917-62.2772220.005555555555555556Cone search capability for table J/A+A/705/A244/tablea2 (CANDISC detections with cross-match flags)https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/J/A+A/705/A244/tablea2?https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/A+A/705/A244/tablea2?http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/A+A/705/A244/tablea2?GETtext/xml+votable180.050000true118.167-26.3860.005555555555555556Cone search capability for table J/A+A/705/A244/tablea1 (New cluster candidates detected in VVVX)https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/J/A+A/705/A244/tablea1?https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/A+A/705/A244/tablea1?http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/A+A/705/A244/tablea1?GETtext/xml+votable180.050000true271.556-20.0540.0055555555555555565/7201 10444 10451 10453 10542-10543 10551 10553 10556 10590 10594 10610 10612 10615 10624 11946 6/20828 20831 20849 21513-21514 21517 21519 21531 21536 21540 21542 21552 28685 28688 28695-28696 28708-28709 28714-28715 28717 28719 28721 28731 28741 28743 28745 28751 28765-28766 28770 28774 28780 28785 28787 28792 28796 28800-28802 28810 28812-28813 28816 28818-28819 28822 28824 28826-28828 28830 28834 28837 28842 28848-28849 28852 28858 28865 28872 28882 28888-28889 28894-28895 28898-28900 28903-28905 28912 28914 28917-28920 29066 29089 29094 29096-29098 29102 29114-29115 29184 29187 29191 29195 29202 29216 29233 29262 29264 29270 29274 29444 29457 29461 29505-29506 37211 37242 37244-37245 37342-37343 37361 37364 37367-37368 37371 37373 37375 37702 37708 37719 37723 37725 37727 37733 37735 37741 37744-37745 37747 37751-37754 37835 37841 37844 37849 37854 37862 37867 37870 37874 37883 37886 37895-37896 37900 37907 37911 37917 37923 37928 37931 37933-37936 37938 37940 37960 38032 38040 39233 39238 39241 39255 39270 39274 39276 39278-39279 39285-39286 39290-39291 39317 39367 39370 39375 39380 39386 39390 39393 39396 39398 39403 39418 39754 39756 39759-39761 39768 39771 39774 39781 39789 39801-39802 39804 39806 39876 39879 39917 39919 39922-39923 39931 39935 39944 40486 40613 40616 40618 40623 41455 41467-41468 41470 41575 41581-41582 41591-41592 41617 41624 41628 41646 41650 41653 41666 41682 41696 41708 41711 41742 41756 41758-41759 41765-41767 41772 41780-41781 41783 41793 41795 41799 41801-41803 41811 41816-41817 41820 41825 41844 41847 41860-41861 42152-42154 42159-42160 42164 42190 42200 42203 42210-42211 42216 42228-42230 42233 42236 42303 42346 42355 42359 42364 42366-42367 42375 42380-42382 42385 42387-42388 42390-42393 42395-42398 42402-42404 42406-42407 42417 42419-42420 42433-42438 42444-42445 42447 42452-42454 42456-42458 42464 42466 42480-42481 42485 42487-42488 42491-42494 42502 42505 42512 42515-42516 42520 42528 42835 43008 43010 43013 43018 43031 43033-43035 43047 43049 47856 47866 47868 47870 48035 48040https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/moc/J/A+A/705/A244?format=asciiInfrareddefaultJ/A+A/705/A244/tablea3Compilation of known VVV/VVVX clustersrecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintClusterCluster identifiermeta.id;meta.maincharRA_ICRSRight ascension (ICRS)degpos.eq.ra;meta.mainDE_ICRSDeclination (ICRS)degpos.eq.dec;meta.mainJ/A+A/705/A244/tablea2CANDISC detections with cross-match flagsrecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintTileVVV/VVVX tile nameobs.fieldcharRA_ICRSRight ascension (ICRS)degpos.eq.ra;meta.mainDE_ICRSDeclination (ICRS)degpos.eq.dec;meta.mainLitNameLiterature counterpart namemeta.id;meta.maincharJ/A+A/705/A244/tablea1New cluster candidates detected in VVVXrecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintClusterCluster identifiermeta.id;meta.maincharTileVVVX tile nameobs.fieldcharRA_ICRSRight ascension (ICRS)degpos.eq.ra;meta.mainDE_ICRSDeclination (ICRS)degpos.eq.dec;meta.mainACount (0.4-1.4 mag)phot.countintBCount (0.3-1.4 mag)phot.countintCCount (0.6-2.0 mag)phot.countintDCount (0.5-1.4 mag)phot.countint