Abstract
In order to assess the problem of the asymmetric distribution of cool carbon stars in the Milky Way for the case of a relatively faint sample of stars, a deep, near-IR search for carbon stars has been carried out in the direction of both the galactic center and anticenter. A catalog of 283 carbon stars is presented of which 123 stars have not previously been reported, and a statistical analysis of the surface and space distribution of the stars in the catalog indicates that the number of carbon stars observed toward the galactic anticenter is greater than that observed toward the center by a factor of 3.0. The carbon stars in the sample appear to be concentrated at average distances from the sun of 5.5 kpc toward the galactic center, and 0.5 and 5.0 kpc toward the anticenter. Evidence is found for an increase in the population of carbon stars from about 2.0 kpc from the center outwards.
