Properties Of Open Clusters Research Articles

Properties of Open Clusters in the Regions of the Local Bubble and the Eridanus Superbubble

Abstract Features of the relative positions of open clusters and two superbubbles in the vicinity of the Sun, the Local Bubble and the Eridanus Superbubble, are considered. It is shown that the open clusters are concentrated toward the neutral gas shell of the Local Bubble, while there is a deficiency of clusters inside the cavity. All clusters associated with the Eridanus Superbubble belong to a compact group at the northern edge of the shell; no clusters are present inside the superbubble. Kinematics, age, and other physical and chemical properties of the clusters are investigated. It is found that the metal-deficient clusters and the clusters with high velocities are absent in the sample considered; i.e. the properties of the clusters associated with the Local Bubble and the Eridanus Superbubble are typical of the thin disk objects of the Galaxy.

The stellar disk component: distribution, motions, age and stellar composition

The distribution of the stellar disk component is studied with particular emphasis on the properties of open clusters. A scale height of 80 pc is found for clusters younger than 109years while the scale height is 200 pc for older clusters. A radial metallicity gradient in the disk is confirmed but there seem to be significant abundance variations apart from this. There are radial gradients in age as well as in linear diameter. Kinematically, there are a number of regions in the Milky Way with systematic radial velocity residuals.