Planetary Nebulae towards the Galactic bulge - I. [O III] fluxes

We present [O III] lambda 5007 fluxes and angular diametres for 435 Planetary Nebulae (PNe) in the central 10 degrees x 10 degrees region towards the Galactic bulge. Our sample is taken from the new discoveries of the MASH PN surveys as well as previously known PN. This sample accounts for 80 per cent of known PN in this region. Fluxes and diametres are measured from narrowband imaging with the MOSAIC-II camera on the 4-m Blanco Telescope at the Cerro-Tololo Inter-American Observatory. This is the largest (similar to 60 deg(2)), uniform [O III] lambda 5007 survey of the inner Galactic bulge ever undertaken. 104 of the objects have measured [O III] lambda 5007, [O III] lambda 4959, H alpha or H beta fluxes from the literature, which we use to undertake a detailed comparison to demonstrate the integrity of our new fluxes. Our independent measurements are in excellent agreement with the very best literature sources over two orders of magnitude, while maintaining good consistency over five orders of magnitude. The excellent resolution and sensitivity of our data allows not only for a robust set of homogenous PN fluxes, but provides greater detail into their intricate, otherwise undetermined [O III] lambda 5007 morphologies. These new, extensive measurements significantly increase the sample of reliable [O III] lambda 5007 fluxes for Galactic bulge PN making it a valuable resource and a prelude to the construction of our new Galactic bulge PN luminosity function (Paper II).