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Towards absolute scales for the radii and masses of open clusters
Aims. In this paper we derive tidal radii and masses of open clusters inthe nearest kiloparsecs around the Sun. Methods: For each cluster, themass is estimated from tidal radii determined from a fitting ofthree-parameter King profiles to the observed integrated densitydistribution. Different samples of members are investigated. Results:For 236 open clusters, all contained in the catalogue ASCC-2.5, weobtain core and tidal radii, as well as tidal masses. The distributionsof the core and tidal radii peak at about 1.5 pc and 7-10 pc,respectively. A typical relative error of the core radius lies between15% and 50%, whereas, for the majority of clusters, the tidal radius wasdetermined with a relative accuracy better than 20%. Most of theclusters have tidal masses between 50 and 1000 m_ȯ, and for abouthalf of the clusters, the masses were obtained with a relative errorbetter than 50%.Full Table 2 is only available in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/468/151
| New catalogue of blue stragglers in open clusters
We present a catalogue of blue-straggler candidates in galactic openclusters. It is based on the inspection of the colour-magnitude diagramsof the clusters, and it updates and supersedesthe first version(Ahumada & Lapasset 1995). A new bibliographical search was made foreach cluster, and the resulting information is organised into twotables. Some methodological aspects have been revised, in particularthose concerning the delimitation of the area in the diagrams where thestragglers are selected.A total of 1887 blue-straggler candidates have been found in 427 openclusters of all ages, doubling the original number. The catalogued starsare classified into two categories mainly according to membershipinformation.The whole catalogue (Tables 8, 9, notes, and references) is onlyavailable in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/463/789
| Kinematics of the Open Cluster System in the Galaxy
Absolute proper motions and radial velocities of 202 open clusters inthe solar neighborhood, which can be used as tracers of the Galacticdisk, are used to investigate the kinematics of the Galaxy in the solarvicinity, including the mean heliocentric velocity components(u1,u2,u3) of the open cluster system,the characteristic velocity dispersions(σ1,σ2,σ3), Oortconstants (A,B) and the large-scale radial motion parameters (C,D) ofthe Galaxy. The results derived from the observational data of propermotions and radial velocities of a subgroup of 117 thin disk young openclusters by means of a maximum likelihood algorithm are:(u1,u2,u3) =(-16.1+/-1.0,-7.9+/-1.4,-10.4+/-1.5) km s-1,(σ1,σ2,σ3) =(17.0+/-0.7,12.2+/-0.9,8.0+/-1.3) km s-1,(A,B) =(14.8+/-1.0,-13.0+/-2.7) km s-1 kpc-1, and (C,D) =(1.5+/-0.7,-1.2+/-1.5) km s-1 k pc-1. A discussionon the results and comparisons with what was obtained by other authorsis given.
| Searching for links between magnetic fields and stellar evolution. I. A survey of magnetic fields in open cluster A- and B-type stars with FORS1
Context: .About 5% of upper main sequence stars are permeated by astrong magnetic field, the origin of which is still matter of debate. Aims: . With this work we provide observational material to studyhow magnetic fields change with the evolution of stars on the mainsequence, and to constrain theory explaining the presence of magneticfields in A and B-type stars. Methods: . Using FORS1 inspectropolarimetric mode at the ESO VLT, we have carried out a survey ofmagnetic fields in early-type stars belonging to open clusters andassociations of various ages. Results: . We have measured themagnetic field of 235 early-type stars with a typical uncertainty of 100 G. In our sample, 97 stars are Ap or Bp stars. For thesetargets, the median error bar of our field measurements was 80 G.A field has been detected in about 41 of these stars, 37 of which werenot previously known as magnetic stars. For the 138 normal A and B-typestars, the median error bar was 136 G, and no field was detected in anyof them.
| Astrophysical parameters of Galactic open clusters
We present a catalogue of astrophysical data for 520 Galactic openclusters. These are the clusters for which at least three most probablemembers (18 on average) could be identified in the ASCC-2.5, a catalogueof stars based on the Tycho-2 observations from the Hipparcos mission.We applied homogeneous methods and algorithms to determine angular sizesof cluster cores and coronae, heliocentric distances, mean propermotions, mean radial velocities, and ages. For the first time we derivedistances for 200 clusters, radial velocities for 94 clusters, and agesof 196 clusters. This homogeneous new parameter set is compared withearlier determinations, where we find, in particular, that the angularsizes were systematically underestimated in the literature.
| Searching for Planetary Transits in Galactic Open Clusters: EXPLORE/OC
Open clusters potentially provide an ideal environment for the searchfor transiting extrasolar planets, since they feature a relatively largenumber of stars of the same known age and metallicity at the samedistance. With this motivation, over a dozen open clusters are now beingmonitored by four different groups. We review the motivations andchallenges for open cluster transit surveys for short-period giantplanets. Our photometric monitoring survey of Galactic southern openclusters, the Extrasolar Planet Occultation Research/Open Clusters(EXPLORE/OC) project, was designed with the goals of maximizing thechance of finding and characterizing planets and of providing astatistically valuable astrophysical result in the case of nodetections. We use the EXPLORE/OC data from two open clusters, NGC 2660and NGC 6208, to illustrate some of the largely unrecognized issuesfacing open cluster surveys, including severe contamination by Galacticfield stars (>80%) and the relatively low number of cluster membersfor which high-precision photometry can be obtained. We discuss how acareful selection of open cluster targets under a wide range of criteriasuch as cluster richness, observability, distance, and age can meet thechallenges, maximizing chances to detect planet transits. In addition,we present the EXPLORE/OC observing strategy to optimize planetdetection, which includes high-cadence observing and continuouslyobserving individual clusters rather than alternating between targets.
| Astrophysical supplements to the ASCC-2.5. II. Membership probabilities in 520 Galactic open cluster sky areas
We present a catalogue (CSOCA ) of stars residing in 520 Galactic opencluster sky areas which is the result of the kinematic (proper motion)and photometric member selection of stars listed in the homogeneousAll-sky Compiled Catalogue of 2.5 Million Stars (ASCC-2.5). We describethe structure and contents of the catalogue, the selection procedureapplied, and the proper motion and photometric membership constraintsadopted. In every cluster area the CSOCA contains the complete list ofthe ASCC-2.5 stars regardless of their membership probability. Forevery star the CSOCA includes accurate J2000 equatorial coordinates,proper motions in the Hipparcos system, BV photometric data in theJohnson system, proper motion and photometric membership probabilities,as well as angular distances from the cluster centers for about 166 000ASCC-2.5 stars. If available, trigonometric parallaxes, spectral types,multiplicity and variability flags from the ASCC-2.5, and radialvelocities with their errors from the Catalogue of Radial Velocities ofGalactic Stars with high precision Astrometric Data (CRVAD) are alsogiven.
| Spectroscopic binaries in southern open clusters
This is a report on an ongoing program about binaries in southern openclusters. The long-term purpose of this project is to contribute tounderstanding the formation and evolution of spectroscopic binaries,providing observational constraints that will permit tests of some ofthe current theories on binary formation in open clusters.
| On the Galactic Disk Metallicity Distribution from Open Clusters. I. New Catalogs and Abundance Gradient
We have compiled two new open cluster catalogs. In the first one, thereare 119 objects with ages, distances, and metallicities available, whilein the second one, 144 objects have both absolute proper motion andradial velocity data, of which 45 clusters also have metallicity dataavailable. Taking advantage of the large number of objects included inour sample, we present an iron radial gradient of about -0.063+/-0.008dex kpc-1 from the first sample, which is quite consistentwith the most recent determination of the oxygen gradient from nebulaeand young stars, about -0.07 dex kpc-1. By dividing clustersinto age groups, we show that the iron gradient was steeper in the past,which is consistent with the recent result from Galactic planetarynebulae data, and also consistent with inside-out galactic diskformation scenarios. Based on the cluster sample, we also discuss themetallicity distribution, cluster kinematics, and space distribution. Adisk age-metallicity relation could be implied by those properties,although we cannot give conclusive result from the age- metallicitydiagram based on the current sample. More observations are needed formetal-poor clusters. From the second catalog, we have calculated thevelocity components in cylindrical coordinates with respect to theGalactic standard of rest for 144 open clusters. The velocitydispersions of the older clusters are larger than those of youngclusters, but they are all much smaller than that of the Galactic thickdisk stars.
| Proper Motions of Open Star Clusters and the Rotation Rate of the Galaxy
The mean proper motions of 167 Galactic open clusters withradial-velocity measurements are computed from the data of the Tycho-2catalog using kinematic and photometric cluster membership criteria. Theresulting catalog is compared to the results of other studies. The newproper motions are used to infer the Galactic rotation rate at the solarcircle, which is found to be ω0=+24.6±0.8 km s-1 kpc-1.Analysis of the dependence of the dispersion of ω0 estimates onheliocentric velocity showed that even the proper motions of clusterswith distances r>3 kpc contain enough useful information to be usedin kinematic studies demonstrating that the determination of propermotions is quite justified even for very distant clusters.
| Abundance Gradient from Open Clusters and Implications for the Galactic Disk Evolution
We compile a new sample of 89 open clusters with ages, distances andmetallicities available. We derive a radial iron gradient of about-0.099±0.008 dexkpc (unweighted) for the whole sample, which issomewhat greater than the most recent determination of oxygen gradientfrom nebulae and young stars. By dividing the clusters into age groups,we show that the iron gradient was steeper in the past and has evolvedslowly in time. Current data show a substantial scatter of the clustermetallicities indicating that the Galactic disk has undergone a veryrapid, inhomogeneous enrichment.Also, based on a simple, but quitesuccessful model of chemical evolution of the Milky Way disk, we make adetailed calculation of the iron abundance gradient and its timeevolution. The predicted current iron gradient is about -0.072 dexkpc.The model also predicts a steady flattening of the iron gradient withtime, which agrees with the result from our open cluster sample.
| Proper motions of open clusters within 1 kpc based on the TYCHO2 Catalogue
We present mean absolute proper motions of 112 open clusters, determinedusing the data from the Tycho2 Catalogue. For 28 clusters, this is thefirst determination of proper motion. The measurements made use of alarge number of stars (usually several tens) for each cluster. The totalnumber of stars studied in the fields of the 164 open clusters is 5016,of which 4006 were considered members. The mean proper motions of theclusters and membership probability of individual stars were obtainedfrom the proper motion data by applying the statistical method proposedby Sanders (\cite{Sanders71}). Based on observations of the ESAHipparcos satellite. Tables 1, 2 and 5 to 117 are only available inelectronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr(130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/376/441
| Absolute proper motions of open clusters. I. Observational data
Mean proper motions and parallaxes of 205 open clusters were determinedfrom their member stars found in the Hipparcos Catalogue. 360 clusterswere searched for possible members, excluding nearby clusters withdistances D < 200 pc. Members were selected using ground basedinformation (photometry, radial velocity, proper motion, distance fromthe cluster centre) and information provided by Hipparcos (propermotion, parallax). Altogether 630 certain and 100 possible members werefound. A comparison of the Hipparcos parallaxes with photometricdistances of open clusters shows good agreement. The Hipparcos dataconfirm or reject the membership of several Cepheids in the studiedclusters. Tables 1 and 2 are only available in electronic form at theCDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Statistical parallaxes and kinematical parameters of classical Cepheids and young star clusters
The statistical-parallax method is applied for the first time to spacevelocities of 270 classical Cepheids with proper motions adopted fromHIPPARCOS (1997) and TRC (Hog et al. 1998) catalogs and distances basedon the period-luminosity relation by Berdnikov et al. (1996). Thedistance scale of short-period Cepheids (with periods less than 9 days)is shown to require an average correction of 15-20%, whereas statisticalparallaxes of Cepheids with periods > 9 days are found to agree wellwith photometric distances. It is shown that the luminosities ofshort-period Cepheids must have been underestimated partly due to thecontamination of this subsample by a substantial (20 to 40%) fraction offirst-overtone pulsators. The statistical-parallax technique is alsoapplied for the first time to 117 open clusters younger than 100 millionyears and with proper motions reduced to the HIPPARCOS reference system.It is concluded that a 0.12-0.15 mag increase of the distance scales ofopen clusters and Cepheids would be sufficient to reconcile thestatistical-parallax results inferred for these two types of objects.Such approach leads to an LMC distance modulus of less than 18.40 mag,which agrees, within the errors, with the short distance scale for RRLyrae variables and is at variance with the conclusions by Feast andCatchpole (1998) and Feast et al. (1998), who argue that the LMCdistance modulus should be increased to 18.70 mag. The distance scalebased on the Cepheid period-luminosity relation by Berdnikov and Efremov(1985) seems to be a good compromise. Extragalactic distances, whichrely on long-period Cepheids, seem to require no substantial correction.In addition to statistical parallaxes, kinematical parameters have beeninferred for the combined sample consisting of Cepheids andopen-clusters: solar-motion components (U0 ,V0,W0) = (9, 12, 7) km/s (+/- 1 km/s); velocity-ellipsoid axes(σU; σV; σW) = (15.0,10.3, 8.5) km/s (+/- 1 km/s); the angular velocity of rotation of thesubsystem, ω0 = 28.7 +/- 1 km/s/kpc, the Oort constantA = 17.4 +/- 1.5 km/s, and the second derivative of angular velocity,⋰ω0= 1.15 +/- 0.2 km/s/kpc3.
| Some Revised Observational Constraints on the Formation and Evolution of the Galactic Disk
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1997AJ....114.2556T&db_key=AST
| Absolute proper motions of 181 young open clusters.
Not Available
| Chemical Evolution of the Galactic Disk: Evidence for a Gradient Perpendicular to the Galactic Plane
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1995AJ....110.2813P&db_key=AST
| Tests of two convection theories for red giant and red supergiant envelopes
Two theories of stellar envelope convection are considered here in thecontext of red giants and red supergiants of intermediate to high mass:Boehm-Vitense's standard mixing-length theory (MLT) and Canuto &Mazzitelli's new theory incorporating the full spectrum of turbulence(FST). Both theories assume incompressible convection. Two formulationsof the convective mixing length are also evaluated: l proportional tothe local pressure scale height (HP) and l proportional tothe distance from the upper boundary of the convection zone (z).Applications to test both theories are made by calculating stellarevolutionary sequences into the red zone (z). Applications to test boththeories are made by calculating stellar evolutionary sequences into thered phase of core helium burning. Since the theoretically predictedeffective temperatures for cool stars are known to be sensitive to theassigned value of the mixing length, this quantity has been individuallycalibrated for each evolutionary sequence. The calibration is done in acomposite Hertzsprung-Russell diagram for the red giant and redsupergiant members of well-observed Galactic open clusters. The MLTmodel requires the constant of proportionality for the convective mixinglength to vary by a small but statistically significant amount withstellar mass, whereas the FST model succeeds in all cases with themixing lenghth simply set equal to z. The structure of the deep stellarinterior, however, remains very nearly unaffected by the choices ofconvection theory and mixing lenghth. Inside the convective envelopeitself, a density inversion always occurs, but is somewhat smaller forthe convectively more efficient MLT model. On physical grounds the FSTmodel is preferable, and seems to alleviate the problem of finding theproper mixing length.
| Catalogue of blue stragglers in open clusters.
An extensive survey of blue straggler candidates in galactic openclusters of both hemispheres is presented. The blue stragglers wereselected considering their positions in the cluster colour-magnitudediagrams.They were categorized according to the accuracy of thephotometric measurements and membership probabilities. An amount of 959blue straggler candidates in 390 open clusters of all ages wereidentified and classified. A set of basic data is given for everycluster and blue straggler. The information is arranged in the form of acatalogue. Blue stragglers are found in clusters of all ages. Thepercentage of clusters with blue stragglers generally grows with age andrichness of the clusters. The mean ratio of the number of bluestragglers to the number of cluster main sequence stars is approximatelyconstant up to a cluster age of about 10^8.6^ yr and rises for olderclusters. In general, the blue stragglers show a remarkable degree ofcentral concentration.
| More missing stellar opacity?
Observational data for Population I stars have shown that blue loops onthe Hertzsprung-Russell (H-R) diagram form for stellar masses as low asapproximately 4 solar mass. However, current state-of-the-art stellarmodels, unlike the older ones that were based on smaller opacities, failto loop out of the red-giant region during core helium burning formasses less than 7 solar mass. A possible explanation is that thecurrently used Livermore opacities need to be further increased, by atleast 70%, at temperatures characteristic of the base of the outerconvection zone, around 1 x 106 K. Indeed, no other suggestedremedy seems to yield a blue loop at the lowest observed loopluminosities.
| Errata au Bulletin d'Information 40
Not Available
| South for the Winter
Not Available
| Observational tests of convective core overshooting in stars of intermediate to high mass in the Galaxy
This study presents the results of 14 tests for the presence ofconvective overshooting in large convecting stellar cores for stars withmasses of 4-17 solar masses which are members of detached close binarysystems and of open clusters in the Galaxy. A large body of theoreticaland observational data is scrutinized and subjected to averaging inorder to minimize accidental and systematic errors. A conservative upperlimit of d/HP less than 0.4 is found from at least four tests, as wellas a tighter upper limit of d/HP less than 0.2 from one good test thatis subject to only mild restrictions and is based on the maximumobserved effective temperature of evolved blue supergiants. It isconcluded that any current uncertainty about the distance scale forthese stars is unimportant in conducting the present tests forconvective core overshooting. The correct effective temperature scalefor the B0.5-B2 stars is almost certainly close to one of the proposedhot scales.
| An observational age-metallicity relation for the Galaxy
An observational Age-Metallicity Diagram for the Galaxy has beenconstructed on the base of star cluster data available in theliterature. This diagram exhibits two independent and simultaneousmetallicity enhancement processes identified with two dynamical galacticsubstructures: the thin and the thick disks. Within the observationaluncertainties both these processes can be satisfactory approximated byInfall-Inflow models of the chemical evolution with different high,although rapidly decaying with time, Star Formation and Infall Rates.The comparison of the galactic age-metallicity relations with that forthe Large Magellanic Cloud shows some similarities between processes ofthe chemical enhancement in the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Thin Disksubsystem in the Galaxy.
| Metallicities of open clusters
An examination is conducted of available metallicity data on openclusters, gathering the largest possible set of homogeneous estimationsof this parameter and determining whether open cluster metallicities arerelated to the spatial and age distributions of such objects. The'composite' C-M diagrams for the two metallicity groups discussedexhibit interesting morphological differences which may be characterizedas the presence of numbered blue stragglers at the two metal-richclusters and a lack of such members in two metal-poor ones.
| The Gould plates
Most of the 1200 photographs of southern galactic star clusters anddouble stars taken by Benjamin A. Gould at Cordoba, Argentina, in1872-1882 are in the Harvard College Observatory plate collection. Arecent evaluation of these plates shows many to be in usable condition.Details of the characteristics of Gould's plates of galactic clusters,including limiting magnitudes, are presented.
| Liste des étoiles Ap et Am dans les amas ouverts (Edition révisée)
Not Available
| Capture of field stars by molecular clouds
Field stars can be captured by massive interstellar clouds. Starsencounter interstellar clouds with relative velocities that have adistribution. Close encounters in which stars enter a cloud withrelative velocities less than the escape velocity results ingravitational capture of the stars by the cloud. Using typical valuesfor the parameters characterizing the molecular clouds and the fieldstars of different types, the numbers of the captured stars areestimated, which are found to be significantly large to have observableconsequences. When star formation in the cloud gives rise to theformation of a star cluster, it would contain two populations of stars:the young newly born stars and the older field stars that were capturedby the cloud during its long lifetime prior to star formation. It issuggested that the very low mass stars on the main sequence of thePleiades cluster and evolved stars occupying anomalous positions on thecolor-magnitude diagrams of some other young clusters are captured fieldstars.
| Two populations of open clusters
The paper proposes a division of the local open clusters into twodifferent dislike subpopulations on the base of the metallicityenhancement history, spatial distribution in the Galaxy and morphologyof their C-M diagrams. The thin disk population objects exhibit highermetallicities and are more closely concentrated to the center and thedisk of the Galaxy than the thick disk clusters. The former contain alsofrequently blue stragglers while the later exhibit the presence of Clumpgiant members, typical for the thick disk globular clusters. Kinematicalproperties of the two considered open cluster subpopulations remainunknown due to the lack of observational data.
| Catalog of AP and AM stars in open clusters
The previous results of Raab (1922), Markarian (1951), and Collinder(1931) have been used to catalog Ap and Am stars that are in the fieldof open clusters. Tabular data are presented for the clusterdesignation, the HD or HDE number, the right ascension (1900), thedeclination (1900), and the magnitude. Also listed are the spectraltypes and, for certain stars, the probability of cluster membership.
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