No Arabic abstract
We present CCD $UBVRI$ photometry of the field of the open cluster NGC 6866. Structural parameters of the cluster are determined utilizing the stellar density profile of the stars in the field. We calculate the probabilities of the stars being a physical member of the cluster using their astrometric data and perform further analyses using only the most probable members. The reddening and metallicity of the cluster were determined by independent methods. The LAMOST spectra and the ultraviolet excess of the F and G type main-sequence stars in the cluster indicate that the metallicity of the cluster is about the solar value. We estimated the reddening $E(B-V)=0.074 pm 0.050$ mag using the $U-B$ vs $B-V$ two-colour diagram. The distance modula, the distance and the age of NGC 6866 were derived as $mu = 10.60 pm 0.10$ mag, $d=1189 pm 75$ pc and $t = 813 pm 50$ Myr, respectively, by fitting colour-magnitude diagrams of the cluster with the PARSEC isochrones. The Galactic orbit of NGC 6866 indicates that the cluster is orbiting in a slightly eccentric orbit with $e=0.12$. The mass function slope $x=1.35 pm 0.08$ was derived by using the most probable members of the cluster.
NGC 2345 is a young open cluster hosting seven blue and red supergiants, low metallicity and a high fraction of Be stars which makes it a privileged laboratory to study stellar evolution. We aim to improve the determination of the cluster parameters and study the Be phenomenon. Our objective is also to characterise its seven evolved stars by deriving their atmospheric parameters and chemical abundances. We performed a complete analysis combining for the first time $ubvy$ photometry with spectroscopy as well as $Gaia$ Data Release 2. We obtained spectra with classification purposes for 76 stars and high-resolution spectroscopy for an in-depth analysis of the blue and red evolved stars. We identify a new red supergiant and 145 B-type likely members within a radius of 18.7$pm$1.2 arcmin, which implies an initial mass, $M_{textrm{cl}}approx$5200 M$_{odot}$. We find a distance of 2.5$pm$0.2 kpc for NGC 2345, placing it at $R_{textrm{GC}}$=10.2$pm$0.2 kpc. Isochrone fitting supports an age of 56$pm$13 Ma, implying masses around 6.5 M$_{odot}$ for the supergiants. A high fraction of Be stars ($approx$10$%$) is found. From the spectral analysis we estimate for the cluster an average $v_{textrm{rad}}$=$+58.6pm0.5$ kms$^{-1}$ and a low metallicity, [Fe/H]=$-$0.28$pm$0.07. We also have determined chemical abundances for Li, O, Na, Mg, Si, Ca, Ti, Ni, Rb, Y, and Ba for the evolved stars. The chemical composition of the cluster is consistent with that of the Galactic thin disc. One of the K supergiants, S50, is a Li-rich star, presenting an A(Li)$approx$2.1. An overabundance of Ba is found, supporting the enhanced $s$-process. NGC 2345 has a low metallicity for its Galactocentric distance, comparable to typical LMC stars. It is massive enough to serve as a testbed for theoretical evolutionary models for massive intermediate-mass stars.
The NASA space telescope Kepler has provided unprecedented time-series observations which have revolutionised the field of asteroseismology, i.e. the use of stellar oscillations to probe the interior of stars. The Kepler-data include observations of stars in open clusters, which are particularly interesting for asteroseismology. One of the clusters observed with Kepler is NGC 6811, which is the target of the present paper. However, apart from high-precision time-series observations, sounding the interiors of stars in open clusters by means of asteroseismology also requires accurate and precise atmospheric parameters as well as cluster membership indicators for the individual stars. We use medium-resolution (R~25,000) spectroscopic observations, and three independent analysis methods, to derive effective temperatures, surface gravities, metallicities, projected rotational velocities and radial velocities, for 15 stars in the field of the open cluster NGC 6811. We discover two double-lined and three single-lined spectroscopic binaries. Eight stars are classified as either certain or very probable cluster members, and three stars are classified as non-members. For four stars, cluster membership could not been assessed. Five of the observed stars are G-type giants which are located in the colour-magnitude diagram in the region of the red clump of the cluster. Two of these stars are surely identified as red clump stars for the first time. For those five stars, we provide chemical abundances of 31 elements. The mean radial-velocity of NGC 6811 is found to be +6.68$pm$0.08 km s$^{-1}$ and the mean metallicity and overall abundance pattern are shown to be very close to solar with an exception of Ba which we find to be overabundant.
We examine the radio properties of the Brightest Cluster Galaxies (BCGs) in a large sample of X-ray selected galaxy clusters comprising the Brightest Cluster Sample (BCS), the extended BCS (eBCS) and ROSAT-ESO Flux Limited X-ray (REFLEX) cluster catalogues. We have multi-frequency radio observations of the BCG using a variety of data from the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) and Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) telescopes. The radio spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of these objects are decomposed into a component attributed to on-going accretion by the active galactic nuclei (AGN) that we refer to as the core, and a more diffuse, ageing component we refer to as the non-core. These BCGs are matched to previous studies to determine whether they exhibit emission lines (principally H-alpha), indicative of the presence of a strong cooling cluster core. We consider how the radio properties of the BCGs vary with cluster environmental factors. Line emitting BCGs are shown to generally host more powerful radio sources, exhibiting the presence of a strong, distinguishable core component in about 60% of cases. This core component more strongly correlates with the BCGs [OIII]5007A line emission. For BCGs in line-emitting clusters, the X-ray cavity power correlates with both the extended and core radio emission, suggestive of steady fuelling of the AGN over bubble-rise time-scales in these clusters.
Precision uvbyCa Hbeta photometry of the metal-deficient, old open cluster, NGC 2506, is presented. The survey covers an area 20 by 20 arcminutes, and extends to V~18 for b-y and Hbeta and to V~17.0 for c_1 and hk. For V < 16.0, photometric scatter among the indices leads to the recovery of 6 known variables within the cluster core and 5 new variables in the outer 5 arcmin of the survey field. Proper motions, radial velocities, and precise multicolor indices are used to isolate a highly probable sample of cluster members from the very rich color-magnitude diagram (CMD). From 257 highly probable members at the cluster turnoff, we derive a reddening estimate of E(b-y) = 0.042 +/- 0.001 (E(B-V) = 0.058 +/- 0.001), where the errors refer to the internal standard errors of the mean. [Fe/H] is derived from the A/F dwarf members using both m_1 and hk, leading to [Fe/H] = -0.296 +/- 0.011 (sem) and -0.317 +/- 0.004 (sem), respectively. The weighted average, heavily dominated by hk, is [Fe/H] = -0.316 +/- 0.033. Based upon red giant members, we place an upper limit of +/- 0.010 on the variation in the reddening across the face of the cluster. We also identify two dozen potential red giant cluster members outside the cluster core. Victoria-Regina isochrones on the Stromgren system produce an excellent match to the cluster for an apparent modulus of (m-M) = 12.75 +/- 0.1 and an age of 1.85 +/- 0.05 Gyr.
Deep and extensive CCD photometric observations $UBV(RI)_{C}H_{alpha}$ were carried out in the area of the open cluster NGC 3293. The new data set allows to see the entire cluster sequence down to $M_{V} approx +4.5$, revealing that stars with $M_{V} < -2$ are evolving off the main sequence; stars with $-2 < M_{V} < +2$ are located on the main sequence and stars with $M_{V} > +2$ are placed above it. According to our analysis, the cluster distance is $d = 2750 pm 250 pc$ ($V_{0}-M_{V} = 12.2 pm 0.2$) and its nuclear age is $8 pm 1 Myr$. NGC 3293 contains an important fraction of pre--main sequence (PMS) stars distributed along a parallel band to the ZAMS with masses from 1 to $2.5 cal M_{sun}$ and a mean contraction age of $10 Myr$. This last value does not differ too much from the nuclear age estimate. Actually, if we take into account the many factors that may affect the PMS star positions onto the colour--magnitude diagram, both ages can be perfectly reconciled. The star formation rate, on the other hand, suggests that NGC 3293 stars formed surely in one single event, therefore favouring a coeval process of star formation. Besides, using the $H_{alpha}$ data, we detected nineteen stars with signs of having $H_{alpha}$ emission in the region of NGC 3293, giving another indication that the star formation process is still active in the region. The computed initial mass function for the cluster has a slope value $x = 1.2 pm 0.2$, a bit flatter than the typical slope for field stars and similar to the values found for other young open clusters.