Galactic bulge giants: probing stellar and galactic evolution I.
  Catalogue of Spitzer IRAC and MIPS sources
  Aims: We aim at measuring mass-loss rates and the luminosities of a
statistically large sample of Galactic bulge stars at several galactocentric
radii. The sensitivity of previous infrared surveys of the bulge has been
rather limited, thus fundamental questions for late stellar evolution, such as
the stage at which substantial mass-loss begins on the red giant branch and its
dependence on fundamental stellar properties, remain unanswered. We aim at
providing evidence and answers to these questions. Methods: To this end, we
observed seven 15 times 15 arcmin^2 fields in the nuclear bulge and its
vicinity with unprecedented sensitivity using the IRAC and MIPS imaging
instruments on-board the Spitzer Space Telescope. In each of the fields, tens
of thousands of point sources were detected. Results: In the first paper based
on this data set, we present the observations, data reduction, the final
catalogue of sources, and a detailed comparison to previous mid-IR surveys of
the Galactic bulge, as well as to theoretical isochrones. We find in general
good agreement with other surveys and the isochrones, supporting the high
quality of our catalogue.
