Program: GS-2008A-Q-23

The metal-poor genuine bulge globular clusters may be the most ancient fossil records of the Galaxy. The globular cluster Al~3 has a metallicity [Fe/H]~-1.2, and a blue Horizontal Branch (HB), with no red HB present. It is located at a galactocentric distance of 2.1 kpc. Al~3, discovered by Andrews & Lindsay (1967, IrAj, 8, 126), was revealed to be a globular cluster by Ortolani et al. (2006, ApJ, 646, L115), as a new globular cluster in the Galaxy. It is a good candidate to be among the few genuine metal-poor and old bulge clusters. We intend to use Phoenix to observe 3 cluster Red Giant Branch stars, in order to derive abundance ratios of the alpha-element oxygen from OH lines in the H band, aiming to characterize their abundance pattern, which in turn may represent the earliest phases of chemical enrichment in the central parts of the Galaxy. Oxygen is a reliable alpha-element, produced exclusively by supernovae type II, and oxygen excesses relative to iron indicate that the stars were formed early in the Galaxy.