- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/476/217
- Title:
- Fundamental parameters of five old open clusters
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/476/217
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The outer parts of the Milky Way disk are believed to be one of the main arenas where the accretion of external material in the form of dwarf galaxies and subsequent formation of streams is taking place. The Monoceros stream and the Canis Major and Argo over-densities are notorious examples. Understanding whether what we detect is the signature of accretion or, more conservatively, simply the intrinsic nature of the disk, represents one of the major goals of modern Galactic astronomy. We try to shed more light on the properties of the outer disk by exploring the properties of distant anti-center old open clusters. We want to verify whether distant clusters follow the chemical and dynamical behavior of the solar vicinity disk, or whether their properties can be better explained in terms of an extra-galactic population.
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- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/555/A131
- Title:
- Fundamental parameters of star clusters in the LMC
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/555/A131
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- To enlarge our growing sample of well-studied star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), we present CCD Washington CT1 photometry to T1~23 in the fields of twenty-three mostly unstudied clusters located in the inner disc and outer regions of the LMC. We estimated cluster radii from star counts. Using the cluster Washington (T1,C-T1) colour-magnitude diagrams, statistically cleaned from field star contamination, we derived cluster ages and metallicities from a comparison with theoretical isochrones of the Padova group. Whenever possible, we also derived ages using delta T1 - the magnitude difference between the red giant clump and the main sequence turn off - and estimated metallicities from the standard giant branch procedure. We enlarged our sample by adding clusters with published ages and metallicities determined on a similar scale by applying the same methods. We examined relationships between their positions in the LMC, ages and metallicities. We find that the two methods for age and metallicity determination agree well with each other. Fourteen clusters are found to be intermediate-age clusters (1-2Gyr), with [Fe/H] values ranging from -0.4 to -0.7. The remaining nine clusters turn out to be younger than 1Gyr, with metallicities between 0.0 and -0.4. Our 23 clusters represent an increase of ~30% in the current total amount number of well-studied LMC clusters using Washington photometry. In agreement with previous studies, we find no evidence for a metallicity gradient. We also find that the younger clusters were formed closer to the LMC centre than the older ones.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/889/99
- Title:
- Gaia DR2 Blanco 1 member candidates
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/889/99
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present the stellar population, using Gaia DR2 parallax, kinematics, and photometry, of the young (~100Myr), nearby (~230pc) open cluster, Blanco 1. A total of 644 member candidates are identified via the unsupervised machine learning method StarGO to find the clustering in the 5-dimensional position and proper motion parameter (X, Y, Z, {mu}{alpha}*cos{delta}, {mu}{delta}) space. Within the tidal radius of 10.0+/-0.3pc, there are 488 member candidates, 3 times more than those outside. A leading tail and a trailing tail, each of 50-60pc in the Galactic plane, are found for the first time for this cluster, with stars further from the cluster center streaming away faster, manifest stellar stripping. Blanco 1 has a total detected mass of 285+/-32M_{sun}_ with a mass function consistent with a slope of alpha=1.35+/-0.2 in the sense of dN/dm{prop.to}m^-alpha^, in the mass range of 0.25-2.51M_{sun}_, where N is the number of members and $m$ is stellar mass. A Minimum Spanning Tree ({LAMBDA}_MSR_) analysis shows the cluster to be moderately mass segregated among the most massive members (>~1.4M_{sun}_), suggesting an early stage of dynamical disintegration.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/618/A59
- Title:
- Gaia DR2 confirmed new nearby open clusters
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/618/A59
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The publication of the Gaia Data Release 2 (Gaia DR2) opens a new era in astronomy. It includes precise astrometric data (positions, proper motions, and parallaxes) for more than 1.3 billion sources, mostly stars. To analyse such a vast amount of new data, the use of data-mining techniques and machine-learning algorithms is mandatory. A great example of the application of such techniques and algorithms is the search for open clusters (OCs), groups of stars that were born and move together, located in the disc. Our aim is to develop a method to automatically explore the data space, requiring minimal manual intervention. We explore the performance of a density-based clustering algorithm, DBSCAN, to find clusters in the data together with a supervised learning method such as an artificial neural network (ANN) to automatically distinguish between real OCs and statistical clusters. The development and implementation of this method in a five-dimensional space (l, b, p, {mu}_{alpha}_^*^, {mu}_{delta}_) with the Tycho-Gaia Astrometric Solution (TGAS) data, and a posterior validation using Gaia DR2 data, lead to the proposal of a set of new nearby OCs. We have developed a method to find OCs in astrometric data, designed to be applied to the full Gaia DR2 archive.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/630/A119
- Title:
- Gaia DR2 distances to two clusters
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/630/A119
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- On the one hand, the second data release of the Gaia mission (GaiaDR2, Cat. I/345) has opened a trove of astrometric and photometric data for Galactic clusters within a few kpc of the Sun. On the other hand, lucky imaging has been an operational technique to measure the relative positions of visual binary systems for a decade and a half, a time sufficient to apply its results to the calculation of orbits of some massive multiple systems within ~1kpc of the Sun. As part of an ambitious research program to measure distances to Galactic stellar groups (including clusters) containing O stars,I start with two of the nearest examples: Collinder 419 in Cygnus and NGC 2264 in Monoceros. The main ionizing source for both clusters is a multiple system with an O-type primary: HD 193322 and 15 Mon, respectively. For each of those two multiple systemsI aim to derive new astrometric orbits for the Aa,Ab components. First, I present a method that usesGaiaDR2 G+G_BP_+G_RP_ photometry, positions, proper motions, and parallaxes to obtain the membership and distance of a stellar group and apply it to Collinder 419 and NGC 2264. Second, I present a new code that calculates astrometric orbits by searching the whole seven-parameter orbit space and apply it to HD 193 322 Aa,Ab and 15 Mon Aa,Abusing as input literature data from the Washington Double Star Catalog (WDS) and the AstraLux measurements recently presented by Maiz Apellaniz et al. (2019, Cat. J/A+A/626/A20) I obtain GaiaDR2 distances of 1006^+37^_-34_pc for Collinder 419 and 719+/-16pc for NGC 2264, with the main contribution to the uncertainties coming from the spatial covariance of the parallaxes. The two NGC 2264 subclusters are at the same distance (within the uncertainties) and they show a significant relative proper motion. The distances are shown to be robust. HD 193322 Aa,Ab follows an eccentric (e=0.58^+0.03^_-0.04_) orbit with a period of 44+/-1 a and the three stars it contains have a total mass of 76.1^+9.9^_-7.4_M_{sun}_. The orbit of 15 Mon Aa,Ab is even more eccentric (e=0.770^+0.023^_-0.030_), with a period of 108+/-12 a and a total mass of 45.1^+3.6^_-3.3_M_{sun}_ for its two stars.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/495/663
- Title:
- Gaia DR2 OB associations
- Short Name:
- J/MNRAS/495/663
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Historically, it has often been asserted that most stars form in compact clusters. In this scenario, present-day gravitationally-unbound OB associations are the result of the expansion of initially gravitationally-bound star clusters. However, this paradigm is inconsistent with recent results, both theoretical and observational, that instead favour a hierarchical picture of star formation in which stars are formed across a continuous distribution of gas densities and most OB associations never were bound clusters. Instead they are formed in-situ as the low-density side of this distribution, rather than as the remnants of expanding clusters. We utilise the second Gaia data release to quantify the degree to which OB associations are undergoing expansion and, therefore, whether OB associations are the product of expanding clusters, or whether they were born in-situ, as the large-scale, globally-unbound associations that we see today. We find that the observed kinematic properties of associations are consistent with highly substructured velocity fields and additionally require some degree of localised expansion from sub-clusters within the association. While most present-day OB associations do exhibit low levels of expansion, there is no significant correlation between radial velocity and radius. Therefore, the large-scale structure of associations is not set by the expansion of clusters, rather it is a relic of the molecular gas cloud from which the association was formed. This finding is inconsistent with a monolithic model of association formation and instead favours a hierarchical model, in which OB associations form in-situ, following the fractal structure of the gas from which they form.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/601/A19
- Title:
- Gaia DR1 open cluster members
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/601/A19
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The first Gaia Data Release contains the Tycho-Gaia Astrometric Solution (TGAS). This is a subset of about 2 million stars for which, besides the position and photometry, the proper motion and parallax are calculated using Hipparcos and Tycho-2 positions in 1991.25 as prior information. We investigate the scientific potential and limitations of the TGAS component by means of the astrometric data for open clusters. Mean cluster parallax and proper motion values are derived taking into account the error correlations within the astrometric solutions for individual stars, an estimate of the internal velocity dispersion in the cluster, and, where relevant, the effects of the depth of the cluster along the line of sight. Internal consistency of the TGAS data is assessed. . Values given for standard uncertainties are still inaccurate and may lead to unrealistic unit-weight standard deviations of least squares solutions for cluster parameters. Reconstructed mean cluster parallax and proper motion values are generally in very good agreement with earlier Hipparcos-based determination, although the Gaia mean parallax for the Pleiades is a significant exception. We have no current explanation for that discrepancy. Most clusters are observed to extend to nearly 15 pc from the cluster centre, and it will be up to future Gaia releases to establish whether those potential cluster-member stars are still dynamically bound to the clusters. The Gaia DR1 provides the means to examine open clusters far beyond their more easily visible cores, and can provide membership assessments based on proper motions and parallaxes. A combined HR diagram shows the same features as observed before using the Hipparcos data, with clearly increased luminosities for older A and F dwarfs.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/618/A93
- Title:
- Gaia DR2 open clusters in the Milky Way
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/618/A93
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Open clusters are convenient probes of the structure and history of the Galactic disk. They are also fundamental to stellar evolution studies. The second Gaia data release contains precise astrometry at the submilliarcsecond level and homogeneous photometry at the mmag level, that can be used to characterise a large number of clusters over the entire sky. In this study we aim to establish a list of members and derive mean parameters, in particular distances, for as many clusters as possible, making use of Gaia data alone. We compiled a list of thousands of known or putative clusters from the literature. We then applied an unsupervised membership assignment code, UPMASK, to the Gaia DR2 (Cat. I/345) data contained within the fields of those clusters. We obtained a list of members and cluster parameters for 1229 clusters. As expected, the youngest clusters are seen to be tightly distributed near the Galactic plane and to trace the spiral arms of the Milky Way, while older objects are more uniformly distributed, deviate further from the plane, and tend to be located at larger Galactocentric distances. Thanks to the quality of Gaia DR2 astrometry, the fully homogeneous parameters derived in this study are the most precise to date. Furthermore, we report on the serendipitous discovery of 60 new open clusters in the fields analysed during this study.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/633/A99
- Title:
- Gaia DR2 open clusters in the Milky Way. II
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/633/A99
- Date:
- 02 Mar 2022 11:45:02
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Many of the open clusters listed in modern catalogues were first reported by visual astronomers as apparent over-densities of bright stars. As observational techniques and analysis methods improved, some of them have been shown to be chance alignments of stars and are not true clusters. Recent publications making use of Gaia DR2 data provided membership list for over a thousand clusters, but many nearby objects listed in the literature have so far evaded detection. We update the Gaia DR2 cluster census by performing membership determinations for known clusters that had been missed by previous studies, and for recently discovered clusters. We investigate a subset of non-detected clusters that according to their literature parameters should be easily visible in the Gaia . Confirming or disproving the existence of old, inner-disc, high-altitude clusters is especially important as their survival or disruption is linked to the dynamical processes that drive the evolution of the Milky Way. We employ the Gaia DR2 catalogue and a membership assignment procedure, as well as visual inspection of spatial, proper motion, and parallax distributions. We use membership lists provided by other authors when they are available. We derive membership lists for 150 objects, including 10 that were known prior to Gaia . We compile a final list of members for 1481 clusters. Among the objects that we are still unable to identify with Gaia data, we argue that many (mostly putative old, relatively nearby, high-altitude objects) are not true clusters. At present, the only confirmed cluster located further than 500pc away from the Galactic plane within the Solar circle is NGC 6791. It is likely that the objects discussed in this study only represent a fraction of the non-physical groupings erroneously listed in the catalogues as genuine open clusters, and that those lists need further cleaning.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/618/A12
- Title:
- Gaia DR1 Upper Scorpius new member candidates
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/618/A12
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Selecting a cluster in proper motion space is an established method for identifying members of a star forming region. The first data release from Gaia (DR1) provides an extremely large and precise stellar catalogue, which when combined with the Tycho-2 catalogue gives the 2.5 million parallaxes and proper motions contained within the Tycho-Gaia Astrometric Solution (TGAS). We aim to identify new member candidates of the nearby Upper Scorpius subgroup of the Scorpius-Centaurus Complex within the TGAS catalogue. In doing so, we also aim to validate the use of the DBSCAN clustering algorithm on spatial and kinematic data as a robust member selection method. We constructed a method for member selection using a density-based clustering algorithm (DBSCAN) applied over proper motion and distance. We then applied this method to Upper Scorpius, and evaluated the results and performance of the method. We identified 167 member candidates of Upper Scorpius, of which 78 are new, distributed within a 10{deg} radius from its core. These member candidates have a mean distance of 145.6+/-7.5pc, and a mean proper motion of (-11.4, -23.5)+/-(0.7, 0.4)mas/yr. These values are consistent with measured distances and proper motions of previously identified bona-fide members of the Upper Scorpius association.
