Open cluster

Summary

An open cluster is a type of star cluster made of tens to a few thousand stars that were formed from the same giant molecular cloud and have roughly the same age. More than 1,100 open clusters have been discovered within the Milky Way galaxy, and many more are thought to exist. They are loosely bound by mutual gravitational attraction and become disrupted by close encounters with other clusters and clouds of gas as they orbit the Galactic Center. This can result in a loss of cluster members through internal close encounters and a dispersion into the main body of the galaxy. Open clusters generally survive for a few hundred million years, with the most massive ones surviving for a few billion years. In contrast, the more massive globular clusters of stars exert a stronger gravitational attraction on their members, and can survive for longer. Open clusters have been found only in spiral and irregular galaxies, in which active star form

Official source

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_cluster

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Membership, binarity, and rotation of F-G-K stars in the open cluster Blanco 1

Jean-Claude Mermilliod

Context. The nearby open cluster Blanco 1 is of considerable astrophysical interest for formation and evolution studies of open clusters because it is the third highest Galactic latitude cluster known. It has been observed often, but so far no definitive and comprehensive membership determination is readily available.

2008

Red giants in open clusters - XIV. Mean radial velocities for 1309 stars and 166 open clusters

Jean-Claude Mermilliod

Context. Radial velocities have proved to be an efficient method for membership determination if there are at least 2 or 3 red giants in a cluster. They are necessary for galactic studies, but are still missing for many open clusters.

2008

As part of a long-term project to determine abundances and astrophysical properties of evolved red stars in open clusters, we present high-precision DDO photoelectric observations for a sample of 33 red giant candidates projected in the fields of nine Galactic open clusters. These data are supplemented with UBV photoelectric photometry of 24 of these stars as well as with CORAVEL radial-velocity observations for 13 red giant candidates in four of the clusters. We also present Washington photoelectric photometry of a small sample of red giant candidates of the open cluster Ruprecht 97. The likelihood of cluster membership for each star photometrically observed and for 23 additional red giant candidates with UBV and DDO data available in the literature, is evaluated by using two independent photometric criteria. Nearly 82% of the analysed stars are found to have a high probability of being cluster giants. Photometric membership probabilities show very good agreement with those obtained from CORAVEL radial velocities. While E(B - V) colour excesses were determined from combined B - V and DDO colours, calibrations of the DDO system were used to derive MK spectral types, effective temperatures and metallicities.The derived DDO metallicities range between values typical of moderately metal-poor clusters ([Fe/H] = -0.19) to moderately metal-rich ([Fe/H] = 0.25) ones. (c) 2009 WILEY-VCH Verla, GmbH&Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

2008