Cluster Member Stars Research Articles

A Panchromatic View of the Bulge Globular Cluster NGC 6569*

Abstract We used high-resolution optical Hubble Space Telescope/WFC3 and multiconjugate adaptive optics assisted GEMINI GeMS/Gemini South Adaptive Optics Imager observations in the near-infrared (NIR) to investigate the physical properties of the globular cluster (GC) NGC 6569 in the Galactic bulge. We have obtained the deepest purely NIR color–magnitude diagram published so far for this cluster using ground-based observations, reaching K s ≈ 21.0 mag (two magnitudes below the main-sequence turn-off point). By combining the two data sets secured at two different epochs, we determined relative proper motions for a large sample of individual stars in the center of NGC 6569, allowing a robust selection of cluster member stars. Our proper motion analysis solidly demonstrates that, despite its relatively high metal content, NGC 6569 hosts some blue horizontal branch stars. A differential reddening map has been derived in the direction of the system, revealing a maximum color excess variation of about mag in the available field of view. The absolute age of NGC 6569 has been determined for the first time. In agreement with the other few bulge GCs with available age estimates, NGC 6569 turns out to be old, with an age of about 12.8 Gyr, and a typical uncertainty of 0.8–1.0 Gyr.

Photometric study of the open cluster NGC 381

We present UBVRcIc photometry of stars, down to the 20th magnitude, in the region of the intermediate-age open cluster NGC 381. The core and the cluster radii are estimated to be 2.99 ± 0.93 and 5.6 ± 0.1 arcmin, respectively. A total of 350 probable cluster member stars are identified by using proper motion from GAIA as the criterion of membership. The mean proper motion of the cluster is ūx = 1.55 ± 0.38 mas yr-1, ūy = -2.19 ± 0.39 mas yr-1. We notice an anomalous reddening as the optical total-to-selective extinction ratio in the direction of the cluster Rcluster = 3.7 ± 0.1. The reddening E(BV) = 0.35 ± 0.04 mag is found in the direction of the cluster NGC 381. The distance to the cluster is 957 ± 93 pc and the cluster has an estimated age of log(Age)=8.50 ± 0.05 years.

The Gaia-ESO Survey: the origin and evolution of s-process elements

Context. Several works have found an increase of the abundances of the s-process neutron-capture elements in the youngest Galactic stellar populations. These trends provide important constraints on stellar and Galactic evolution and they need to be confirmed with large and statistically significant samples of stars spanning wide age and distance intervals. Aims. We aim to trace the abundance patterns and the time evolution of five s-process elements – two belonging to the first peak, Y and Zr, and three belonging to the second peak, Ba, La, and Ce – using the Gaia-ESO IDR5 results for open clusters and disc stars. Methods. From the UVES spectra of cluster member stars, we determined the average composition of clusters with ages >0.1 Gyr. We derived statistical ages and distances of field stars, and we separated them into thin and thick disc populations. We studied the time-evolution and dependence on metallicity of abundance ratios using open clusters and field stars whose parameters and abundances were derived in a homogeneous way. Results. Using our large and homogeneous sample of open clusters, thin and thick disc stars, spanning an age range larger than 10 Gyr, we confirm an increase towards young ages of s-process abundances in the solar neighbourhood. These trends are well defined for open clusters and stars located nearby the solar position and they may be explained by a late enrichment due to significant contribution to the production of these elements from long-living low-mass stars. At the same time, we find a strong dependence of the s-process abundance ratios on the Galactocentric distance and on the metallicity of the clusters and field stars. Conclusions. Our results, derived from the largest and most homogeneous sample of s-process abundances in the literature, confirm the growth with decreasing stellar ages of the s-process abundances in both field and open cluster stars. At the same time, taking advantage of the abundances of open clusters located in a wide Galactocentric range, these results offer a new perspective on the dependence of the s-process evolution on the metallicity and star formation history, pointing to different behaviours at various Galactocentric distances.

Proper motions of stars in the globular clusters using WFI@2.2 m telescope

AbstractWe present results of our studies for a sample of Galactic globular star clusters with the aim of deriving relative proper motions. We used CCD archival data observed with Wide Field Imager (WFI) mounted on ESO 2.2 m telescope at La Silla, Chile. Astrometric software designed by Anderson et al. is used to derive relative proper motions. The vector point diagrams show clear separation of field stars from the cluster stars. We used proper motions to determine membership probabilities and to produce color-magnitude diagrams with most probable cluster member stars. Our membership catalogue can be used to study the membership status of the peculiar stars including various variables reported in the literature.

Tidal radius estimates for three open clusters

A new method is developed for estimating tidal radii and masses of open star clusters (OCL) based on the sky-plane coordinates and proper motions and/or radial velocities of cluster member stars. To this end, we perform the correlation and spectral analysis of oscillations of absolute values of stellar velocity components relative to the cluster mass center along three coordinate planes and along each coordinate axis in five OCL models. Mutual correlation functions for fluctuations of absolute values of velocity field components are computed. The spatial Fourier transform of the mutual correlation functions in the case of zero time offset is used to compute wavenumber spectra of oscillations of absolute values of stellar velocity components. The oscillation spectra of these quantities contain series of local maxima at equidistant wavenumber k values. The ratio of the tidal radius of the cluster to the wavenumber difference Δk of adjacent local maxima in the oscillation spectra of absolute values of velocity field components is found to be the same for all five OCL models. This ratio is used to estimate the tidal radii and masses of the Pleiades, Praesepe, and M67 based on the proper motions and sky-plane coordinates of the member stars of these clusters. The radial dependences of the absolute values of the tangential and radial projections of cluster star velocities computed using the proper motions relative to the cluster center are determined, along with the corresponding autocorrelation functions and wavenumber spectra of oscillations of absolute values of velocity field components. The Pleiades virial mass is estimated assuming that the cluster is either isolated or non-isolated. Also derived are the estimates of the Pleiades dynamical mass assuming that it is non-stationary and non-isolated. The inferred Pleiades tidal radii corresponding to these masses are reported.

CCD UBVRI photometry of NGC 6811

We present the results of CCD UBVRI observations of the open cluster NGC 6811 obtained on 18th July 2012 with the 1 m telescope at the TÜBİTAK National Observatory (TUG). Using these photometric results, we determine the structural and astrophysical parameters of the cluster. The mean photometric uncertainties are better than 0.02 mag in the V magnitude and B−V, V−R, and V−I colour indices to about 0.03 mag for U−B among stars brighter than magnitude V=18. Cluster member stars were separated from the field stars using the Galaxia model of Sharma et al. (2011) together with other techniques. The core radius of the cluster is found to be r c =3.60 arcmin. The astrophysical parameters were determined simultaneously via Bayesian statistics using the colour-magnitude diagrams V versus B−V, V versus V−I, V versus V−R, and V versus R−I of the cluster. The resulting most likely parameters were further confirmed using independent methods, removing any possible degeneracies. The colour excess, distance modulus, metallicity and the age of the cluster are determined simultaneously as E(B−V)=0.05±0.01 mag, μ=10.06±0.08 mag, [M/H]=−0.10±0.01 dex and t=1.00±0.05 Gyr, respectively. Distances of five red clump stars which were found to be members of the cluster further confirm our distance estimation.

SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF STARS AROUND SIX METAL-POOR GLOBULAR CLUSTERS IN THE GALACTIC BULGE

Wide-field JHKs images obtained with the SIRIUS near-infrared camera of the IRSF 1.4m telescope are used to examine the tidal structures of the spatial stellar configuration around six metal-poor([Fe/H]< -1.0) globular clusters located within 3 kpc from the Galactic center. The radial surface density profiles are obtained from the surface photometry of the cluster images and the star counting for the photometric data. For the star counting, candidates of cluster member stars are selected with an filtering algorithm in color-magnitude diagrams. We find that the six target clusters show tidal overdensity features in the radial surface density profiles. There is a break inside the tidal radius for each cluster, and the profile in the outer overdensity region is characterized by a power law. Two- dimensional density maps of all the clusters show distorted asymmetric stellar configurations in the outer region. In five out of the six target clusters, the overdensity features are likely to be associated with the effects of the Galaxy dynamical interaction and the cluster space motions. The observed tidal configurations of stars suggest that several metal-poor clusters in the Galactic bulge are possibly surviving remnants of mergers to build the old stellar system of the Galactic bulge.

UPMASK: unsupervised photometric membership assignment in stellar clusters

We develop a method for membership assignment in stellar clusters using only photometry and positions. The method, UPMASK, is aimed to be unsupervised, data driven, model free, and to rely on as few assumptions as possible. It is based on an iterative process, principal component analysis, clustering algorithm, and kernel density estimations. Moreover, it is able to take into account arbitrary error models. An implementation in R was tested on simulated clusters that covered a broad range of ages, masses, distances, reddenings, and also on real data of cluster fields. Running UPMASK on simulations showed that it effectively separates cluster and field populations. The overall spatial structure and distribution of cluster member stars in the colour-magnitude diagram were recovered under a broad variety of conditions. For a set of 360 simulations, the resulting true positive rates (a measurement of purity) and member recovery rates (a measurement of completeness) at the 90% membership probability level reached high values for a range of open cluster ages ($10^{7.1}-10^{9.5}$ yr), initial masses ($0.5-10\times10^3$M$_{\sun}$) and heliocentric distances ($0.5-4.0$ kpc). UPMASK was also tested on real data from the fields of the open cluster Haffner~16 and of the closely projected clusters Haffner~10 and Czernik~29. These tests showed that even for moderate variable extinction and cluster superposition, the method yielded useful cluster membership probabilities and provided some insight into their stellar contents. The UPMASK implementation will be available at the CRAN archive.

Structure and mass function of three young open clusters

Using UBVRI CCD data taken from 104-cm Sampurnanand Telescope, ARIES, Nainital, we present the structure, initial mass function and mass segregation of three young age (∼10Myr) open star clusters: NGC 2129, NGC 1502 and King 12. Based on photometric as well as astrometric criteria, the cluster member stars as well as field stars have been identified. We construct luminosity function which is further used to estimate the mass functions by employing theoretical stellar evolutionary isochrones. The entire cluster region mass function (MF) slopes for NGC 2129, NGC 1502 and King 12 are obtained as −2.55±0.14, −2.73±0.36 and −1.94±0.12 respectively. It is found that changes in the MF slope of King 12 are significantly different compared to NGC 2129 and NGC 1502 from inner region to outer region. The MF slope for King 12 is steeper at larger radii. The dynamical relaxation times for all three clusters are found to be less than age of the clusters. This indicates that all these clusters are dynamically relaxed. We show that for NGC 1502 and King 12, passing off of low mass stars from the inner region of the clusters to the halo occurs during the course of evolution.

STATISTICAL PROPERTIES OF GALACTIC δ SCUTI STARS: REVISITED

We present statistical characteristics of 1,578 {\delta} Scuti stars including nearby field stars and cluster member stars within the Milky Way. We obtained 46% of these stars (718 stars) from the works done by Rodr\'{i}guez and collected the remaining 54% stars (860 stars) from other literatures. We updated the entries with the latest information of sky coordinate, color, rotational velocity, spectral type, period, amplitude and binarity. The majority of our sample are well characterized in terms of typical period range (0.02-0.25 days), pulsation amplitudes (<0.5 mag) and spectral types (A-F type). Given this list of {\delta} Scuti stars, we examined relations between their physical properties (i.e., periods, amplitudes, spectral types and rotational velocities) for field stars and cluster members, and confirmed that the correlations of properties are not significantly different from those reported in the Rodr\'{i}guez's works. All the {\delta} Scuti stars are cross-matched with several X-ray and UV catalogs, resulting in 27 X-ray and 41 UV-only counterparts. These counterparts are interesting targets for further study because of their rarity and uniqueness in showing {\delta} Scuti-type variability and X-ray/UV emission at the same time. The compiled catalog can be accessed through the web interface http://stardb.yonsei.ac.kr/DeltaScuti

A FEATURE OF STELLAR DENSITY DISTRIBUTION WITHIN THE TIDAL RADIUS OF GLOBULAR CLUSTER NGC 6626 (M28) IN THE GALACTIC BULGE

Using wide-field J, H, and Ks images obtained with the WIRCam near-infrared camera on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, we investigated the spatial density configuration of stars within the tidal radius of metal-poor globular cluster NGC 6626, which is known to be located near the bulge region and have a thick-disk orbit motion. In order to trace the stellar density around a target cluster, we sorted the cluster's member stars using a mask-filtering algorithm and weighted the stars on the color-magnitude diagram. From the weight-summed surface density map, we found that the spatial density distribution of stars within the tidal radius is asymmetric with distorted overdensity features. The extending overdensity features are likely associated with the effects of the dynamic interaction with the Galaxy and the cluster's space motion. An interesting finding is that the prominent overdensity features extend toward the direction of the Galactic plane. This orientation of stellar density distribution can be interpreted with the result of the disk-shock effect of the Galaxy, previously experienced by the cluster. Indeed, the radial surface density profile accurately describes this overdensity feature with a break in the slope inside the tidal radius. Thus, the observed results indicate that NGC 6626 experienced a strong dynamical interaction with the Galaxy. Based on the result of strong tidal interaction with the Galaxy and previously published results, we discussed possible origins and evolutions of the cluster: (1) the cluster might have formed in satellite galaxies that were merged and created the Galactic bulge region in the early universe, after which time its dynamical properties were modified by dynamical friction, or (2) the cluster might have formed in primordial and rotationally supported massive clumps in the thick disk of the Galaxy.

THE CHROMOSPHERIC ACTIVITY, AGE, METALLICITY, AND SPACE MOTIONS OF 36 WIDE BINARIES

We present the chromospheric activity (CA) levels, metallicities and full space motions for 41 F, G, K and M dwarf stars in 36 wide binary systems. Thirty-one of the binaries, contain a white dwarf component. In such binaries the total age can be estimated by adding the cooling age of the white dwarf to an estimate of the progenitor's main sequence lifetime. To better understand how CA correlates to stellar age, 14 cluster member stars were also observed. Our observations demonstrate for the first time that in general CA decays with age from 50 Myr to at least 8 Gyr for stars with 1.0 < V-I < 2.4. However, little change occurs in CA level for stars with V-I < 1.0 between 1 Gyr and 5 Gyr, consistent with the results of Pace et al. (2009). Our sample also exhibits a negative correlation between stellar age and metallicity, a positive correlation between stellar age and W space velocity component and the W velocity dispersion increases with age. Finally, the population membership of these wide binaries is examined based upon their U, V, W kinematics, metallicity and CA. We conclude that wide binaries are similar to field and cluster stars in these respects. More importantly, they span a much more continuous range in age and metallicity than is afforded by nearby clusters.

Search for extratidal features around 17 globular clusters in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

The dynamical evolution of a single globular cluster and also of the entire Galactic globular cluster system has been studied theoretically in detail. In particular, simulations show how the 'lost' stars are distributed in tidal tails emerging from the clusters. We investigate the distribution of Galactic globular cluster stars on the sky to identify such features like tidal tails. The Sloan Digital Sky Survey provides consistent photometry of a large part of the sky to study the projected two dimensional structure of the 17 globular clusters in its survey area. We use a color-magnitude weighted counting algorithm to map (potential) cluster member stars on the sky. We recover the already known tidal tails of Pal 5 and NGC 5466. For NGC 4147 we have found a two arm morphology. Possible indications of tidal tails are also seen around NGC 5053 and NGC 7078, supporting earlier suggestions. Moreover, we find potential tails around NGC 5904 and Pal 14. Especially for the Palomar clusters than Pal 5, deeper data are needed in order to confirm or to rule out the existence of tails. For many of the remaining clusters in our sample we observe a pronounced extratidal halo, which is particularly large for NGC 7006 and Pal 1. In some cases, the extratidal halos may be associated with the stream of the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal galaxy (e.g.,NGC 4147, NGC 5024, NGC 5053).

Kinematic parameters and membership probabilities of open clusters in the Bordeaux PM2000 catalogue

We derive lists of proper-motions and kinematic membership probabilities for 49 open clusters and possible open clusters in the zone of the Bordeaux PM2000 proper motion catalogue ($+11^{\circ}\le\delta\le+18^{\circ}$). We test different parametrisations of the proper motion and position distribution functions and select the most successful one. In the light of those results, we analyse some objects individually. The segregation between cluster and field member stars, and the assignment of membership probabilities, is accomplished by applying a new and fully automated method based on both parametrisations of the proper motion and position distribution functions, and genetic algorithm optimization heuristics associated with a derivative-based hill climbing algorithm for the likelihood optimization. We present a catalogue comprising kinematic parameters and associated membership probability lists for 49 open clusters and possible open clusters in the Bordeaux PM2000 catalogue region. We note that this is the first determination of proper motions for five open clusters. We confirm the non-existence of two kinematic populations in the region of 15 previously suspected non-existent objects.

Uvby – H$_{\beta}$ CCD photometry and membership segregation of the open cluster NGC 2548; gaps in the Main Sequence of open clusters

Deep CCD photometry in the uvby-Hbeta intermediate-band system is presented for the cluster NGC 2548 (M 48). A complete membership analysis based on astrometric and photometric criteria is applied. The photometric analysis of a selected sample of stars yields a reddening value of E(b-y)=0.06\pm0.03, a distance modulus of V_0-M_V=9.3\pm0.5 (725 pc) and a metallicity of [Fe/H]= -0.24\pm0.27. Through isochrone fitting we find an age of log t = 8.6\pm0.1 (400 Myr). Our optical photometry and JHK from 2MASS are combined to derive effective temperatures of cluster member stars. The effective temperature distribution along the main sequence of the cluster shows several gaps. A test to study the significance of these gaps in the main sequence of the HR diagram has been applied. The method is also applied to several other open clusters (Pleiades, Hyades, NGC 1817 and M 67) to construct a sequence of metallicities and ages. The comparison of the results of each cluster gives four gaps with high significance (one of them, centred at 4900 K, has not been previously reported).

Lithium Abundances in α Persei Stars

We revisit the scatter in lithium abundances among stars in the α Persei cluster. Among the factors that we examine, inhomogeneous reddening, stellar spots, and stellar surface activity are the main contributors to this scatter. Thus there is no solid evidence requiring the observed dispersion in lithium abundances to be intrinsic to the cluster member stars. Instead, the scatter is probably induced by observational effects.

Multiplicity of the massive stars in the Orion Nebula cluster

We present bispectrum speckle interferometry observations of 13 bright Orion Nebula cluster member stars of spectral type O or B. Diffraction-limited images with a resolution λ/ D of 75 mas in the K′-band were obtained with the SAO 6 m telescope. In our speckle images we find 8 visual companions in total. Using the flux ratios of the resolved systems to estimate the masses of the companions, we find that the systems generally have mass ratios below 1/2. The distribution of mass ratios seems to be consistent with a companion mass function similar to the field IMF. Considering both, the visual and the spectroscopic companions of the 13 target stars, the total number of companions is at least 14. Extrapolation with correction for the unresolved systems suggests that there are at least 1.5 companions per primary star on average. This number is clearly higher than the mean number of ∼0.5 companions per primary star found for the low-mass stars in the Orion Nebula cluster as well as in the field population. This suggests that a different mechanism is at work in the formation of high-mass multiple systems in the dense Orion Nebula cluster than for low-mass stars.