A photometric sequence consisting of 53 stars measured in the V, B, and I bands has been set up in the vicinity of the rich, young Large Magellanic Cloud cluster, NGC 1866. Many of these stars are relatively isolated and are thus suitable for use as local standard stars for photometric studies of the cluster. Color magnitude diagrams to a limit of V=20.5 for various parts of the 13x13arcmin field, centered on the cluster, show that NGC 1866 is embedded in a mix of populations which includes stars younger than the cluster itself, the dominant 0.5-3Gyr population, plus some very old stars represented by four RR Lyrae variables.
We report on a multiwavelength study of the relationship between young star clusters in the Antennae galaxies (NGC 4038/9) and their interstellar environment, with the goal of understanding the formation and feedback effects of star clusters in merging galaxies.
We present broadband BVI photometry for the open cluster NGC 6791, based upon analysis of 1764 individual CCD images. Data tables listing measured magnitudes and standard errors, image-quality indices, a variability index, and equinox J2000.0 equatorial coordinates for 14,342 stars to V~24 have been made available to the public through the services of the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre. Equatorial coordinates only have been provided for a further 1916 stars, the photometry for which we were unable to calibrate because of lack of color information.
The aim of this paper is to present the results of photometric investigations of the central cluster of the W5 E HII region as well as a follow-up study of the triggered star formation in and around bright-rimmed clouds (BRCs). We have carried out wide-field UBVIc and deep VIc photometry of the W5 E HII region. A distance of ~2.1kpc and a mean age of ~1.3Myr have been obtained for the central cluster. The young stellar objects (YSOs) associated with the region are identified on the basis of near-infrared and mid-infrared observations.
In this paper, we present the investigation of the evolutionary status of three open clusters: Berkeley 27, Berkeley 34 and Berkeley 36, all located in the Galactic anticentre direction. All of them were observed with SUperb Seeing Imager 2 at the New Technology Telescope using the Bessel B, V and I filters.
The DIRECT project aims to determine direct distances to two important galaxies in the cosmological distance ladder - M31 and M33 - using detached eclipsing binaries (DEBs) and Cepheids. The search for these variables requires time-series photometry of large areas of the target galaxies and yields magnitudes and positions for tens of thousands of stellar objects, which may be of use to the astronomical community at large. During the first phase of the project, between 1996 September and 1997 October, we were awarded 95 nights on the F. L. Whipple Observatory 1.2 m telescope and 36 nights on the Michigan-Dartmouth-MIT 1.3 m telescope to search for DEBs and Cepheids in the M31 and M33 galaxies. This paper, the first in our series of stellar catalogs, lists the positions, three-color photometry, and variability indices of 57,581 stars with 14.4<V<23.6 in the central part of M33. The catalog is available from our FTP site.
We identify and phase a sample of 107 Cepheids with 10days<P<100days in M81 (NGC 3031) using the Large Binocular Telescope and calibrate their B, V, and I mean magnitudes with archival Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data. The use of a ground-based telescope to identify and phase the Cepheids and HST only for the final calibration reduces the demand on this highly oversubscribed spacecraft by nearly an order of magnitude and yields period-luminosity (PL) relations with dispersions comparable to the best LMC samples. We fit the sample using the OGLE-II LMC PL relations and are unable to find a self-consistent distance for different band combinations or radial locations within M81. We find a distance modulus for M81, relative to the LMC, of {mu}M_81_-{mu}_LMC_=9.39+/-0.14mag, including uncertainties due to the metallicity corrections. This corresponds to a distance to M81 of 3.6+/-0.2Mpc, assuming an LMC distance modulus of 18.41mag.
We present results of CCD imaging in B, V of five late-type galaxies with radial velocities V_0_<350km/s in the Canes Venatici cloud. Based on the photometry of their brightest blue stars we derived the following distances to the galaxies: 9.7Mpc for NGC 4144, 4.5Mpc for NGC 4244, 4.2Mpc for NGC 4395, 2.9Mpc for NGC 4449, and 8.2Mpc for UGC 8331.
The oldest open star clusters are important for tracing the history of the Galactic disk, but many of the more distant clusters are heavily reddened and projected against the rich stellar background of the Galaxy. We have undertaken an investigation of several distant clusters (Berkeley 19, Berkeley 44, King 25, NGC 6802, NGC 6827, Berkeley 52, Berkeley 56, NGC 7142, NGC 7245, and King 9) to develop procedures for separating probable cluster members from the background field. We next created a simple quantitative approach for finding approximate cluster distances, reddenings, and ages. We first conclude that with the possible exception of King 25 they are probably all physical clusters.
We present deep photometry in the B,V and I filters from CTIO/MOSAIC for about 270.000 stars in the Fornax dwarf Spheroidal galaxy, out to a radius of r_ell_~0.8{deg}. By combining the accurately calibrated photometry with the spectroscopic metallicity distributions of individual Red Giant Branch stars we obtain the detailed star formation and chemical evolution history of Fornax. Fornax is dominated by intermediate age (1-10Gyr) stellar populations, but also includes ancient (10-14Gyr), and young (<1Gyr) stars. We show that Fornax displays a radial age gradient, with younger, more metal-rich populations dominating the central region. This confirms results from previous works. Within an elliptical radius of 0.8 degrees, or 1.9kpc from the centre, a total mass in stars of 4.3*10^7^M_{sun}_ was formed, from the earliest times until 250Myr ago. Using the detailed star formation history, age estimates are determined for individual stars on the upper RGB, for which spectroscopic abundances are available, giving an age-metallicity relation of the Fornax dSph from individual stars. This shows that the average metallicity of Fornax went up rapidly from [Fe/H]<-2.5dex to [Fe/H]=-1.5dex between 8-12Gyr ago, after which a more gradual enrichment resulted in a narrow, well-defined sequence which reaches [Fe/H]~-0.8dex, ~3Gyr ago. These ages also allow us to measure the build-up of chemical elements as a function of time, and thus determine detailed timescales for the evolution of individual chemical elements. A rapid decrease in [Mg/Fe] is seen for the stars with [Fe/H]>-1.5dex, with a clear trend in age.