Candidate Cluster Members Research Articles

An HST Study of the Substellar Population of NGC 2024

We performed an HST/WFC3-IR imaging survey of the young stellar cluster NGC 2024 in three filters probing the 1.4 μm H2O absorption feature, characteristic of the population of low-mass and substellar-mass objects down to a few Jupiter masses. We detect 812 point sources, 550 of them in all three filters with signal-to-noise ratio greater than 5. Using a distance-independent two-color diagram, we determine extinction values as high as A V ≃ 40. We also find that the change of effective wavelengths in our filters results in higher A V values as the reddening increases. Reconstructing a dereddened color–magnitude diagram, we derive a luminosity histogram both for the full sample of candidate cluster members and for an extinction-limited subsample containing the 50% of sources with A V ≲ 15. Assuming a standard extinction law like Cardelli et al. with a nominal R V = 3.1, we produce a luminosity function in good agreement with the one resulting from a Salpeter-like initial mass function for a 1 Myr isochrone. There is some evidence of an excess of luminous stars in the most embedded region. We posit that the correlation may be due to those sources being younger, and therefore overluminous, than the more evolved and less extincted cluster's stars. We compare our classification scheme based on the depth of the 1.4 μm photometric feature with the results from the spectroscopic survey of Levine et al., and we report a few peculiar sources and morphological features typical of the rich phenomenology commonly encountered in young star-forming regions.

Analysis of Arabidopsis non-reference accessions reveals high diversity of metabolic gene clusters and discovers new candidate cluster members.

Metabolic gene clusters (MGCs) are groups of genes involved in a common biosynthetic pathway. They are frequently formed in dynamic chromosomal regions, which may lead to intraspecies variation and cause phenotypic diversity. We examined copy number variations (CNVs) in four Arabidopsis thaliana MGCs in over one thousand accessions with experimental and bioinformatic approaches. Tirucalladienol and marneral gene clusters showed little variation, and the latter was fixed in the population. Thalianol and especially arabidiol/baruol gene clusters displayed substantial diversity. The compact version of the thalianol gene cluster was predominant and more conserved than the noncontiguous version. In the arabidiol/baruol cluster, we found a large genomic insertion containing divergent duplicates of the CYP705A2 and BARS1 genes. The BARS1 paralog, which we named BARS2, encoded a novel oxidosqualene synthase. The expression of the entire arabidiol/baruol gene cluster was altered in the accessions with the duplication. Moreover, they presented different root growth dynamics and were associated with warmer climates compared to the reference-like accessions. In the entire genome, paired genes encoding terpene synthases and cytochrome P450 oxidases were more variable than their nonpaired counterparts. Our study highlights the role of dynamically evolving MGCs in plant adaptation and phenotypic diversity.

Mapping out the Stellar Populations of IC 2602 and IC 2391

IC 2391 and IC 2602 are important benchmarks for testing early star and planet evolution theories, both structural and dynamical, because they are the nearest open clusters with ages of ∼50 Myr. We refine membership lists for these clusters by identifying candidate members using Gaia DR2 kinematic and distance information. We identify 451 candidate members of IC 2602 and 350 candidate members of IC 2391. If confirmed, this would increase the known populations of these clusters by 275% and 130%, respectively. We use CHIRON on the CTIO/SMARTS 1.5 m telescope via fiber mode which yields a resolution of 27,400 to acquire high-resolution spectra of 26 new candidate cluster members brighter than G = 13 magnitude, as well as an additional 12 previously known members. Measures of lithium, Hα, stellar properties (T eff, log(g), [Fe/H]), radial velocities, and values from these spectra are used to confirm cluster membership. We find that 37 of 38 stars we observe are bona fide cluster members, of which four are new candidate photometric binaries and 10 are new candidate spectroscopic binaries.

The Gaia-ESO Survey: Target selection of open cluster stars

Context. The Gaia-ESO Survey (GES) is a public, high-resolution spectroscopic survey, conducted with the multi-object spectrograph Fibre Large Array Multi Element Spectrograph (FLAMES) on the Very Large Telescope (European Southern Observatory, ESO, Cerro Paranal, Chile) from December 2011 to January 2018. Gaia-ESO has targeted all the main stellar components of the Milky Way, including thin and thick disc, bulge, and halo. In particular, a large sample of open clusters has been observed, from very young ones, just out of the embedded phase, to very old ones. Aims. The different kinds of clusters and stars targeted in them are useful to reach the main science goals of the open cluster part of GES, which are the study of the open cluster structure and dynamics, the use of open clusters to constrain and improve stellar evolution models, and the definition of Galactic disc properties (e.g., metallicity distribution). Methods. The Gaia-ESO Survey is organised in 19 working groups (WGs), each one being responsible for a task. We describe here the work of three of them, one in charge of the selection of the targets within each cluster or association (WG4), one responsible for defining the most probable candidate member stars (WG1), and another one in charge of the preparation of the observations (WG6). As the entire GES has been conducted before the second Gaia data release, we could not make use of the Gaia astrometry to define cluster member candidates. We made use of public and private photometry to select the stars to be observed with FLAMES, once brought on a common astrometric system (the one defined by 2MASS). Candidate target selection was based on ground-based proper motions, radial velocities, and X-ray properties when appropriate, for example, and it was mostly used to define the position of the clusters’ evolutionary sequences in the colour-magnitude diagrams. Targets for GIRAFFE were then selected near the sequences in an unbiased way. We used known information on membership, when available, only for the few stars to be observed with UVES. Results. We collected spectra for 62 confirmed clusters in the main observing campaign (and a few more clusters were taken from the ESO archive). Among them are very young clusters, where the main targets are pre-main sequence stars, clusters with very hot and massive stars currently on the main sequence, intermediate-age and old clusters where evolved stars are the main targets. Our strategy of making the selection of targets as inclusive and unbiased as possible and of observing a significant and representative fraction of all possible targets permitted us to collect the largest, most accurate, and most homogeneous spectroscopic data set on open star clusters ever achieved.

A galaxy cluster in the innermost Zone of Avoidance, close to the radio phoenix VLSS J2217.5+5943

Context.Galaxy clusters grow via mergers with other clusters and groups. Extended regions of diffuse radio emission with a steep radio spectral index are thought to be indicators of such merger events. Extended radio sources with a significantly curved spectrum and a complex morphology have been found in several galaxy clusters. It has been proposed that these so-called radio phoenices are witnesses of cluster mergers and of the presence of active galactic nuclei prior to the merger. Shock fronts or turbulence induced by the mergers are believed to reenergize plasma emitted in the past active phase of a galaxy.Aims.The steep spectrum radio source VLSS J2217.5+5943 shows a complex filamentary morphology and a curved spectrum. Therefore, the source has previously been classified as a radio phoenix. However, no galaxy cluster associated with this radio source had confidently been detected until now because the source is located in the direction of the innermost zone of the Galactic plane atb = +2.4°, the innermost Zone of Avoidance (ZoA). The main aim of this work is to identify galaxies that are part of a cluster at the location of VLSS J2217.5+5943, determine their redshifts, and analyze their connection with the radio source. The confirmation of a cluster would corroborate the classification of the radio source as a radio phoenix and demonstrate that extended, diffuse radio sources are useful indicators of the presence of a galaxy cluster, in particular in the innermost ZoA.Methods.We analyzed archival observations in the near infrared and mid infrared (Spitzer) to select the galaxies in the immediate neighborhood of the radio source. A sample of 23 galaxies were selected as candidate cluster members. Furthermore, we carried out deep integral field spectroscopy covering 6450 to 10 500 Å with the red unit of theHobby-EberlyTelescope second generation low resolution spectrograph (LRS2-R). We also reanalyzed archival GMRT observations at 325 and 610 MHz.Results.We selected 23 galaxies within a radius of 2.5 arcmin, centered on RA = 22h17m​.5, Dec = +59° 43′ (J2000). Spectra were obtained for three of the brightest galaxies. For two galaxies we derived redshifts ofz = 0.165 andz = 0.161, based on NaD absorption and TiO band heads. Their spectra correspond to E-type galaxies. Both galaxies are spatially associated with VLSS J2217.5+5943. The spectrum of the third galaxy, which is slightly farther from the radio source, indicates a LINER spectral type atz = 0.042. It is apparently a foreground galaxy with respect to the cluster we identified.Conclusions.VLSS J2217.5+5943 is associated with a massive galaxy cluster at redshiftz = 0.163 ± .003, supporting its classification as a radio phoenix. The intrinsic properties of the radio source, computed for the cluster redshift, are in good agreement with those of other known radio phoenices. The identification of the galaxy cluster demonstrates that far-red spectroscopy with LRS2-R succeeds in determining the redshift of galaxies in the innermost ZoA. Moreover, it confirms that radio sources can be useful indicators of the presence of galaxy clusters in the ZoA.

A novel survey for young substellar objects with the W-band filter III: Searching for very low-mass brown dwarfs in Serpens South and Serpens Core

ABSTRACT We present CFHT photometry and IRTF spectroscopy of low-mass candidate members of Serpens South and Serpens Core (∼430 pc, ∼0.5 Myr), identified using a novel combination of photometric filters, known as the W-band method. We report SC182952+011618, SS182959-020335, and SS183032-021028 as young, low-mass Serpens candidate members, with spectral types in the range M7-M8, M5-L0, and M5-M6.5, respectively. Best-fitting effective temperatures and luminosities imply masses of < 0.12M⊙ for all three candidate cluster members. We also present Hubble Space Telescope imaging data (F127M, F139M, and F850LP) for six targets in Serpens South. We report the discovery of the binary system SS183044-020918AB. The binary components are separated by ≈45 AU, with spectral types of M7-M8 and M8-M9, and masses of 0.08–0.1 and 0.05–0.07 M⊙. We discuss the effects of high dust attenuation on the reliability of our analysis, as well as the presence of reddened background stars in our photometric sample.

Spectroscopic quantification of projection effects in the SDSS redMaPPer galaxy cluster catalogue

ABSTRACT Projection effects, whereby galaxies along the line of sight to a galaxy cluster are mistakenly associated with the cluster halo, present a significant challenge for optical cluster cosmology. We use statistically representative spectral coverage of luminous galaxies to investigate how projection effects impact the low-redshift limit of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) redMaPPer galaxy cluster catalogue. Spectroscopic redshifts enable us to differentiate true cluster members from false positives and determine the fraction of candidate cluster members viewed in projection. Our main results can be summarized as follows: first, we show that a simple double-Gaussian model can be used to describe the distribution of line-of-sight velocities in the redMaPPer sample; secondly, the incidence of projection effects is substantial, accounting for ∼16 per cent of the weighted richness for the lowest richness objects; thirdly, projection effects are a strong function of richness, with the contribution in the highest richness bin being several times smaller than for low-richness objects; fourthly, our measurement has a similar amplitude to state-of-the-art models, but finds a steeper dependence of projection effects on richness than these models; and fifthly, the slope of the observed velocity dispersion–richness relation, corrected for projection effects, implies an approximately linear relationship between the true, three-dimensional halo mass and three-dimensional richness. Our results provide a robust, empirical description of the impact of projection effects on the SDSS redMaPPer cluster sample and exemplify the synergies between optical imaging and spectroscopic data for studies of galaxy cluster astrophysics and cosmology.

Probing the existence of a rich galaxy overdensity at z = 5.2

ABSTRACT We report the results of a pilot spectroscopic program of a region at z = 5.2 in the GOODS-N field containing an overdensity of galaxies around the well-known submillimetre galaxy (SMG) HDF850.1. We have selected candidate cluster members from the optical 25 medium-band photometric catalogue of the project SHARDS (Survey for High-z Absorption Red and Dead Sources). 17 rest-frame ultraviolet (UV)-selected galaxies (LAEs and LBGs) with 5.15 < zphot < 5.27, candidates to be physically associated with the overdensity, have been observed with the instrument OSIRIS at the GranTeCan telescope. 13 out of these 17 (76 per cent) sources have secure spectroscopic confirmations via the Ly α line at the redshift of the galaxy protocluster PCl−HDF850.1, demonstrating the high reliability of our photometric redshift method. 10 out of 13 sources are newly confirmed members. Thus, we increase the number of confirmed members in this overdensity from 13 to 23 objects. In order to fully characterize this structure we combined our data set with the sample from the literature. Beside the SMG HDF850.1, none of the 23 spectroscopically confirmed members are bright in the far-infrared/sub-mm wavelength regime (SFRIR < few hundred M⊙ yr−1). The clustering analysis of the whole sample of 23 confirmed members reveals four distinct components in physical space in different evolutionary states, within Δz < 0.04 from the central region hosting SMG HDF850.1. The halo mass of the whole structure at z = 5.2, estimated by a variety of methods, range between 2 and $8\times 10^{12}\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$. The comparison with literature suggests a large-scale assembly comparable to the formation of a central Virgo-like cluster at z = 0 with several satellite components which will possibly be incorporated in a single halo if the protocluster is the progenitor of a more massive Coma-like cluster ($\gt 10^{15}\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$).

Extratidal Stars and Chemical Abundance Properties of Two Metal-poor Globular Clusters M53 (NGC 5024) and NGC 5053

Abstract We search for extratidal stars around two metal-poor Galactic globular clusters, M53 and NGC 5053, using the near-infrared APOGEE spectra. Applying the t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE) algorithm on the chemical abundances and radial velocities results in identification of two isolated stellar groups composed of cluster member stars in the t-SNE projection plane. With additional selection criteria of radial velocity, location in the color–magnitude diagram, and abundances from a manual chemical analysis, we find a total of 73 cluster member candidates; seven extratidal stars are found beyond the tidal radii of the two clusters. The extratidal stars around the clusters tend to be located along the leading direction of the cluster proper motion, and the individual proper motion of these stars also seems to be compatible to those of clusters. Interestingly, we find that one extratidal star of NGC 5053 is located on the southern outskirts of M53, which is part of common stellar envelope by the tidal interaction between two clusters. We discuss the nature of this star in the context of the tidal interaction between two clusters. We find apparent Mg–Al anticorrelations with a clear gap and spread (∼0.9 dex) in Al abundances for both clusters, and a light Si abundance spread (∼0.3 dex) for NGC 5053. Since all extratidal stars have Mg-enhanced and Al-depleted features, they could be first-generation stars of two globular clusters. Our results support that M53 and NGC 5053 originated in dwarf galaxies and are surrounded by extended stellar substructures of more numerous populations of clusters.

Search for the sub-stellar lithium depletion boundary in the open star cluster Coma Berenices

Aims. We mainly aim to search for the lithium depletion boundary (LDB) among the sub-stellar population of the open star cluster Coma Berenices. Methods. Since the number of brown dwarf candidates in Coma Ber available in the literature is scarce, we carried out a search for additional candidates photometrically using colour–magnitude diagrams combining optical and infrared photometry from the latest public releases of the following large-scale surveys: the United Kingdom InfraRed Telescope Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIRT/UKIDSS), the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS), the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), and AllWISE. We checked astrometric consistency with cluster membership using Gaia DR2. A search for Li in three new and five previously known brown dwarf candidate cluster members was performed via spectroscopic observations using the OSIRIS instrument at the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio de Canarias (GTC). Results. A couple dozen new photometric candidate brown dwarfs located inside the tidal radius of Coma Ber are reported, but none of these are significantly fainter and cooler than previously known members. No LiI resonance doublet at 6707.8 Å was detected in any of eight Coma Ber targets in the magnitude range J = 15–19 and G = 20–23 observed with the GTC. Spectral types and radial velocities were derived from the GTC spectra. These values confirm the cluster membership of four L2–L2.5 dwarfs, two of which are new in the literature. Conclusions. The large Li depletion factors found among the four bona fide sub-stellar members in Coma Ber implies that the LDB must be located at spectral type later than L2.5 in this cluster. Using the latest evolutionary models for brown dwarfs, a lower limit of 550 Myr on the cluster age is set. This constraint has been combined with other dating methods to obtain an updated age estimate of 780 ± 230 Myr for the Coma Ber open cluster. Identification of significantly cooler sub-stellar cluster members in Coma Ber awaits the advent of the Euclid wide survey, which should reach a depth of about J = 23; this superb sensitivity will make it possible to determine the precise location of the sub-stellar LDB in this cluster and to carry out a complete census of its sub-stellar population.

Cluster Difference Imaging Photometric Survey. I. Light Curves of Stars in Open Clusters from TESS Sectors 6 and 7

Abstract The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is providing precise time-series photometry for most star clusters in the solar neighborhood. Using the TESS images, we have begun a Cluster Difference Imaging Photometric Survey, in which we are focusing both on stars that are candidate cluster members and on stars that show indications of youth. Our aims are to discover giant transiting planets with known ages, and to provide light curves suitable for studies in stellar astrophysics. For this work, we made 159,343 light curves of candidate young stars, across 596 distinct clusters. Each light curve represents between 20 and 25 days of observations of a star brighter than G Rp = 16, with 30-minute sampling. We describe the image-subtraction and time-series analysis techniques we used to create the light curves, which have noise properties that agree with theoretical expectations. We also comment on the possible utility of the light-curve sample for studies of stellar rotation evolution and binary eccentricity damping. The light curves, which cover about one-sixth of the galactic plane, are available at archive.stsci.edu/hlsp/cdips.

Automated detectionof very low surface brightness galaxiesin the Virgo cluster

We report the automatic detection of a new sample of very low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies, likely members of the Virgo cluster. We introduce our new software, {\tt DeepScan}, that has been designed specifically to detect extended LSB features automatically using the DBSCAN algorithm. We demonstrate the technique by applying it over a 5 degree$^2$ portion of the Next-Generation Virgo Survey (NGVS) data to reveal 53 low surface brightness galaxies that are candidate cluster members based on their sizes and colours. 30 of these sources are new detections despite the region being searched specifically for LSB galaxies previously. Our final sample contains galaxies with $26.0\leq\langle \mu_{e}\rangle\leq28.5$ and $19\leq m_{g}\leq21$, making them some of the faintest known in Virgo. The majority of them have colours consistent with the red sequence, and have a mean stellar mass of $10^{6.3\pm0.5} M_{\odot}$ assuming cluster membership. After using {\tt ProFit} to fit S\'ersic profiles to our detections, none of the new sources have effective radii larger than 1.5 Kpc and do not meet the criteria for ultra-diffuse galaxy (UDG) classification, so we classify them as ultra-faint dwarfs.

A survey for low-mass stellar and substellar members of the Hyades open cluster

Context. Unlike young open clusters (with ages < 250 Myr), the Hyades cluster (age ~ 600 Myr) has a clear deficit of very low-mass stars (VLM) and brown dwarfs (BD). Since this open cluster has a low stellar density and covers several tens of square degrees on the sky, extended surveys are required to improve the statistics of the VLM/BD objects in the cluster. Aim. We search for new VLM stars and BD candidates in the Hyades cluster to improve the present-day cluster mass function down to substellar masses. Methods. An imaging survey of the Hyades with a completeness limit of 21.m5 in the R band and 20.m5 in the I band was carried out with the 2k × 2k CCD Schmidt camera at the 2 m Alfred Jensch Telescope in Tautenburg. We performed a photometric selection of the cluster member candidates by combining results of our survey with 2MASS JHKs photometry Results. We present a photometric and proper motion survey covering 23.4 deg2 in the Hyades cluster core region. Using optical/IR colour-magnitude diagrams, we identify 66 photometric cluster member candidates in the magnitude range 14.m7 < I < 20.m5. The proper motion measurements are based on several all-sky surveys with an epoch difference of 60–70 yr for the bright objects. The proper motions allowed us to discriminate the cluster members from field objects and resulted in 14 proper motion members of the Hyades. We rediscover Hy 6 as a proper motion member and classify it as a substellar object candidate (BD) based on the comparison of the observed colour-magnitude diagram with theoretical model isochrones. Conclusions. With our results, the mass function of the Hyades continues to be shallow below ~0.15 M⊙ indicating that the Hyades have probably lost their lowest mass members by means of dynamical evolution. We conclude that the Hyades core represents the “VLM/BD desert” and that most of the substeller objects may have already left the volume of the cluster.

Galaxy evolution in the cluster Abell 85: new insights from the dwarf population

We present the first results of a new spectroscopic survey of the cluster Abell 85 targeting 1466 candidate cluster members within the central $\sim$1 deg$^2$ of the cluster and having magnitudes $m_r < 20.5$ using VIMOS/VLT and HYDRA/WIYN. A total of 520 galaxies are confirmed as either relaxed cluster members or part of an infalling population. A significant fraction are low mass; the median stellar mass of the sample is $10^{9.6} M_{\odot} $, and 25% have stellar masses below $10^9 M_{\odot}$ (i.e. 133 dwarf galaxies). We also identify seven active galactic nuclei (AGN), four of which reside in dwarf host galaxies. We probe the evolution of star formation rates, based on H$\alpha$ emission and continuum modeling, as a function of both mass and environment. We find that more star forming galaxies are observed at larger clustercentric distances, while infalling galaxies show evidence for recently enhanced star forming activity. Main sequence galaxies, defined by their continuum star formation rates, show different evolutionary behavior based on their mass. At the low mass end, the galaxies have had their star formation recently quenched, while more massive galaxies show no significant change. The timescales probed here favor fast quenching mechanisms, such as ram-pressure stripping. Galaxies within the green valley, defined similarly, do not show evidence of quenching. Instead, the low mass galaxies maintain their levels of star forming activity, while the more massive galaxies have experienced a recent burst.

A TGAS/GaiaDR1 parallactic distance to the σ Orionis cluster

With the new Tycho‐Gaia Astrometric Solution (TGAS), I derive a new parallactic distance to the young σ Orionis open cluster, which is a cornerstone region for studying the formation and evolution of stars and substellar objects from tens of solar masses to a few Jupiter masses. I started with the list of the 46 brightest cluster stars of Caballero (2007). After identifying the 24 TGAS stars in the 30 arcmin‐radius survey area and accounting for 11 FGKM‐type dwarfs and giants in the foreground and background, I got a list of 13 cluster members and candidates with new parallaxes. Of them, I discarded five cluster member candidates with questionable features of youth and/or discordant parallaxes and proper motions, including a distant Herbig Ae/Be star, and proceeded with the remaining eight stars. The σ Orionis mean heliocentric distance is , which is consistent with a contemporaneous interferometric determination that concludes a two‐decade dispute on the cluster distance. As a by‐product, the reclassification of those five cluster member candidates, now interlopers, shows a manifest deficit of cluster stars between 1.2 and 2.1 M⊙, which leaves the door open to new astrometric membership analyses with the next Gaia data releases.

NEW HALO STARS OF THE GALACTIC GLOBULAR CLUSTERS M3 AND M13 IN THE LAMOST DR1 CATALOG

ABSTRACT M3 and M13 are Galactic globular clusters with previous reports of surrounding stellar halos. We present the results of a search for members and extratidal cluster halo stars within and outside of the tidal radius of these clusters in the LAMOST Data Release 1. We find seven candidate cluster members (inside the tidal radius) of both M3 and M13, respectively. In M3 we also identify eight candidate extratidal cluster halo stars at distances up to ∼9.8 times the tidal radius, and in M13 we identify 12 candidate extratidal cluster halo stars at distances up to ∼13.8 times the tidal radius. These results support previous indications that both M3 and M13 are surrounded by extended stellar halos, and we find that the GC destruction rates corresponding to the observed mass loss are generally significantly higher than theoretical studies predict.

Near-infrared photometry and spectroscopy of the low Galactic latitude globular cluster 2MASS-GC 03

We present deep near-infrared photometry and spectroscopy of the globular cluster 2MASS-GC03 projected in the Galactic disk using MMIRS on the Clay telescope (Las Campanas Observatory) and VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea survey (VVV) data. Most probable cluster member candidates were identified from near-infrared photometry. Out of ten candidates that were followed-up spectroscopically, five have properties of cluster members, from which we calculate <[Fe/H]> = -0.9 +- 0.2 and a radial velocity of v_r > = -78 +- 12km/s. A distance of 10.8kpc is estimated from 3 likely RRLyrae members. Given that the cluster is currently at a distance of 4.2kpc from the Galactic center, the cluster's long survival time of an estimated 11.3 +- 1.2Gyr strengthens the case for its globular-cluster nature. The cluster has a hint of elongation in the direction of the Galactic center.

TheGaia-ESO Survey: membership and initial mass function of theγVelorum cluster

Understanding the properties of young open clusters, such as the Initial Mass Function (IMF), star formation history and dynamic evolution, is crucial to obtain reliable theoretical predictions of the mechanisms involved in the star formation process. We want to obtain a list, as complete as possible, of confirmed members of the young open cluster Gamma Velorum, with the aim of deriving general cluster properties such as the IMF. We used all available spectroscopic membership indicators within the Gaia-ESO public archive together with literature photometry and X-ray data and, for each method, we derived the most complete list of candidate cluster members. Then, we considered photometry, gravity and radial velocities as necessary conditions to select a subsample of candidates whose membership was confirmed by using the lithium and H$\alpha$ lines and X-rays as youth indicators. We found 242 confirmed and 4 possible cluster members for which we derived masses using very recent stellar evolutionary models. The cluster IMF in the mass range investigated in this study shows a slope of $\alpha=2.6\pm0.5$ for $0.5<M/M_\odot <1.3$ and $\alpha=1.1\pm0.4$ for $0.16<M/M_\odot <0.5$ and is consistent with a standard IMF. The similarity of the IMF of the young population around $\gamma^2 $Vel to that in other star forming regions and the field suggests it may have formed through very similar processes.

A search for white dwarfs in the Galactic plane: the field and the open cluster population

We investigated the prospects for systematic searches of white dwarfs at low Galactic latitudes, using the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) H$\alpha$ Photometric Survey of the Galactic plane and Bulge (VPHAS+). We targeted 17 white dwarf candidates along sightlines of known open clusters, aiming to identify potential cluster members. We confirmed all the 17 white dwarf candidates from blue/optical spectroscopy, and we suggest five of them to be likely cluster members. We estimated progenitor ages and masses for the candidate cluster members, and compared our findings to those for other cluster white dwarfs. A white dwarf in NGC 3532 is the most massive known cluster member (1.13 M$_{\odot}$), likely with an oxygen-neon core, for which we estimate an $8.8_{-4.3}^{+1.2}$ M$_{\odot}$ progenitor, close to the mass-divide between white dwarf and neutron star progenitors. A cluster member in Ruprecht 131 is a magnetic white dwarf, whose progenitor mass exceeded 2-3 M$_{\odot}$. We stress that wider searches, and improved cluster distances and ages derived from data of the ESA Gaia mission, will advance the understanding of the mass-loss processes for low- to intermediate-mass stars.

What we learn from the Frontier Fields cluster MACS J0416.1-2403

AbstractThe Frontier Fields cluster MACS J0416.1-2403 with its extensive imaging and spectroscopic data sets provides a great opportunity to study the mass distribution of the galaxy cluster and members, the high-redshift Universe and cosmology. By taking advantage of the observations in the 16 Hubble Space Telescope imaging bands of the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH) survey and our large spectroscopic follow-up program with the VIsible Multi-Object Spectrograph (VIMOS) on the Very Large Telescope (VLT), we have been able to identify and obtain the spectroscopic redshifts of 10 important strong lensing systems in this cluster. Furthermore, we have selected and modeled the mass distribution of ~200 candidate cluster members residing in the inner regions of the cluster. We present the results on the model-predicted central mass profile and subhalo population, which are detailed in Grillo et al. (2015). Work is underway to quantify the effects of line-of-sight structures. These are essential elements to make progress in our understanding of the dark matter distribution in massive galaxy clusters and of the distant Universe within the current Frontier Fields initiative and before the advent of the James Webb Space Telescope.