GLIMPSE-CO1: the most massive intermediate-age stellar cluster in the
  Galaxy
  The stellar cluster GLIMPSE-C01 is a dense stellar system located in the
Galactic Plane. Though often referred to in the literature as an old globular
cluster traversing the Galactic disk, previous observations do not rule out
that it is an intermediate age (less than a few Gyr) disk-borne cluster. Here,
we present high-resolution near-infrared spectroscopy of over 50 stars in the
cluster. We find an average radial velocity is consistent with being part of
the disk, and determine the cluster's dynamical mass to be (8 \pm 3)x10^4 Msun.
Analysis of the cluster's M/L ratio, the location of the Red Clump, and an
extremely high stellar density, all suggest an age of 400-800Myr for
GLIMPSE-C01, much lower than for a typical globular cluster. This evidence
therefore leads us to conclude that GLIMPSE-C01 is part of the disk population,
and is the most massive Galactic intermediate-age cluster discovered to date.
