The new generation of IR surveys are revealing and quantifying Galactic features , providing an improved 3 - D interpretation of our own Galaxy .
We present an analysis of the global distribution of dust clouds in the bulge using the near-IR photometry of 157 million stars from the VVV Survey .
We investigate the color-magnitude diagram of the Milky Way bulge which shows a red giant clump of core He burning stars that is split in two color components , with a mean color difference of ( Z - K _ { s } ) = 0.55 magnitudes equivalent to A _ { V } = 2.0 magnitudes .
We conclude that there is an optically thick dust lane at intermediate latitudes above and below the plane , that runs across several square degrees from l = -10 ^ { \circ } to l = +10 ^ { \circ } .
We call this feature the “ Great Dark Lane ” .
Although its exact distance is uncertain , it is located in front of the bulge .
The evidence for a large-scale great dark lane within the Galactic bulge is important in order to constrain models of the barred Milky Way bulge and to compare our galaxy with external barred galaxies , where these kinds of features are prominent .
We discuss two other potential implications of the presence of the Great Dark Lane for microlensing and bulge stellar populations studies .