NGC 3105: A Young Cluster in the Outer Galaxy∗ †

Abstract

Abstract Images and spectra of the open cluster NGC 3105 have been obtained with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph on Gemini South. The color–magnitude diagram (CMD) constructed from these data extends from the brightest cluster members to . This is mag fainter than previous CMDs at visible wavelengths and allowing cluster members with sub-solar masses to be sampled. Assuming a half-solar metallicity, comparisons with isochrones yield a distance of 6.6 ± 0.3 kpc. An age of at least 32 Myr is found based on the photometric properties of the brightest stars, coupled with the apparent absence of pre-main-sequence stars in the lower regions of the CMD. The luminosity function of stars between 50 and 70 arcsec from the cluster center is consistent with a Chabrier lognormal mass function. However, at radii smaller than 50 arcsec there is a higher specific frequency of the most massive main-sequence (MS) stars than at larger radii. Photometry obtained from archival SPITZER images reveals that some of the brightest stars near NGC 3105 have excess infrared emission, presumably from warm dust envelopes. Hα emission is detected in a few early-type stars in and around the cluster, building upon previous spectroscopic observations that found Be stars near NGC 3105. The equivalent width of the NaD lines in the spectra of early-type stars is consistent with the reddening found from comparisons with isochrones. Stars with that fall near the cluster MS have a spectral-type A5V, and a distance modulus that is consistent with that obtained by comparing isochrones with the CMD is found assuming solar neighborhood intrinsic brightnesses for these stars.