Near-Infrared Observations of IRAS Sources with SiO Masers in the Direction of the Near End of the Galactic Bar

In order to investigate the kinematics of stars in the direction of the near end of the galactic bar, J, H, and K photometric observations were made for 67 IRAS sources in the galactic plane (15(deg}<l<25({deg)) and |b|<3(deg) ). SiO maser emission has previously been detected for all of these sources; they are well-confirmed, mass-losing, late-type stars having accurate radial velocities derived from the SiO observations. For 61 sources, single near-infrared counterparts are found within the ~ 20'' error ellipse of the IRAS positions, and for the other 6 sources, multiple candidates or candidates with a low confidence level are found. >From the J, H, K-band and IRAS 12 and 25 mu m intensities, we estimated the spectral energy distributions of the 61 sources. After correcting for interstellar extinction, the bolometric corrections to the 12 mu m fluxes of the sources were calculated. The distances from the Sun have been obtained assuming a constant stellar luminosity (L= 8000 LO ) for the sources. The stars with a large deviation of motion from the galactic rotation are found to fall at a distance of ~ 5.5 kpc from the Sun. This fact might indicate that the stellar motion deviates strongly from smooth galactic rotation near to the tip of the bar. % at a radius of about ~ 3 kpc from the galactic center.