ترغب بنشر مسار تعليمي؟ اضغط هنا

Morphology of Galactic Open Clusters

136   0   0.0 ( 0 )
 نشر من قبل Wen-Ping Chen
 تاريخ النشر 2004
  مجال البحث فيزياء
والبحث باللغة English




اسأل ChatGPT حول البحث

We analyzed the shapes of Galactic open clusters by the star counting technique with the 2MASS star catalog database. Morphological parameters such as the ellipticity and size have been derived via stellar density distribution, weighed by clustering probability. We find that most star clusters are elongated, even for the youngest star clusters of a few million years old, which are located near to the Galactic disk. The shapes of young star clusters must reflect the conditions in the parental molecular clouds and during the cluster formation process. As an open cluster ages, stellar dynamics cause the inner part of the cluster to circularize, but the overall radius gets larger and the stellar density becomes sparser. We discuss how internal relaxation process competes with Galactic external perturbation during cluster evolution.

قيم البحث

اقرأ أيضاً

(abridged) In this paper we derive observed and modelled shape parameters (apparent ellipticity and orientation of the ellipse) of 650 Galactic open clusters identified in the ASCC-2.5 catalogue. We provide the observed shape parameters of Galactic o pen clusters, computed with the help of a multi-component analysis. For the vast majority of clusters these parameters are determined for the first time. High resolution (star by star) N-body simulations are carried out with the specially developed $phi$GRAPE code providing models of clusters of different initial masses, Galactocentric distances and rotation velocities. The comparison of models and observations of about 150 clusters reveals ellipticities of observed clusters which are too low (0.2 vs. 0.3), and offers the basis to find the main reason for this discrepancy. The models predict that after $approx 50$ Myr clusters reach an oblate shape with an axes ratio of $1.65:1.35:1$, and with the major axis tilted by an angle of $q_{XY} approx 30^circ$ with respect to the Galactocentric radius due to differential rotation of the Galaxy. Unbiased estimates of cluster shape parameters require reliable membership determination in large cluster areas up to 2-3 tidal radii where the density of cluster stars is considerably lower than the background. Although dynamically bound stars outside the tidal radius contribute insignificantly to the cluster mass, their distribution is essential for a correct determination of cluster shape parameters. In contrast, a restricted mass range of cluster stars does not play such a dramatic role, though deep surveys allow to identify more cluster members and, therefore, to increase the accuracy of the observed shape parameters.
It is textbook knowledge that open clusters are conspicuous members of the thin disk of our Galaxy, but their role as contributors to the stellar population of the disk was regarded as minor. Starting from a homogenous stellar sky survey, the ASCC-2. 5, we revisited the population of open clusters in the solar neighbourhood from scratch. In the course of this enterprise we detected 130 formerly unknown open clusters, constructed volume- and magnitude-limited samples of clusters, re-determined distances, motions, sizes, ages, luminosities and masses of 650 open clusters. We derived the present-day luminosity and mass functions of open clusters (not the stellar mass function in open clusters), the cluster initial mass function CIMF and the formation rate of open clusters. We find that open clusters contributed around 40 percent to the stellar content of the disk during the history of our Galaxy. Hence, open clusters are important building blocks of the Galactic disk.
The stellar content of Galactic open clusters is gradually depleted during their evolution as a result of internal relaxation and external interactions. The final residues of the evolution of open clusters are called open cluster remnants, barely dis tinguishable from the field. We aimed to characterise and compare the dynamical states of a set of 16 such objects. The sample also includes 7 objects that are catalogued as dynamically evolved open clusters. We used photometric data from the 2MASS, astrometric data from the GAIA DR2 and a decontamination algorithm that was applied to the three-dimensional astrometric space of proper motions and parallaxes for stars in the objects areas. The luminosity and mass functions and total masses for most open cluster remnants are derived here for the first time. Our analysis used predictions of N-body simulations to estimate the initial number of stars of the remnants from their dissolution timescales. The investigated open cluster remnants present masses and velocity dispersions within well-defined ranges: M between ~10-40M_Sun and sigma_v between ~1-7km/s. Some objects in the remnant sample have a limiting radius R_lim<~2pc, which means that they are more compact than the investigated open clusters; other remnants have R_lim between ~2-7pc, which is comparable to the open clusters. We suggest that the open cluster NGC2180 is entering a remnant evolutionary stage. In general, our clusters show signals of depletion of low-mass stars. This confirms their dynamically evolved states. We conclude that the open cluster remnants we studied are in fact remnants of initially very populous open clusters (No~10^3-10^4 stars). The outcome of the long-term evolution is to bring the final residues of the open clusters to dynamical states that are similar to each other, thus masking out the memory of the initial formation conditions of star clusters.
The morphology and cluster membership of the Galactic open clusters - Czernik 20 and NGC 1857 were analyzed using two different clustering algorithms. We present the maiden use of density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN) t o determine open cluster morphology from spatial distribution. The region of analysis has also been spatially classified using a statistical membership determination algorithm. We utilized near infrared (NIR) data for a suitably large region around the clusters from the United Kingdom Infrared Deep Sky Survey Galactic Plane Survey star catalogue database, and also from the Two Micron All Sky Survey star catalogue database. The densest regions of the cluster morphologies (1 for Czernik 20 and 2 for NGC 1857) thus identified were analyzed with a K-band extinction map and color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs). To address significant discrepancy in known distance and reddening parameters, we carried out field decontamination of these CMDs and subsequent isochrone fitting of the cleaned CMDs to obtain reliable distance and reddening parameters for the clusters (Czernik 20: D = 2900 pc; E(J-K) = 0.33; NGC 1857: D = 2400 pc; E(J-K) = 0.18-0.19). The isochrones were also used to convert the luminosity functions for the densest regions of Czernik 20 and NGC 1857 into mass function, to derive their slopes. Additionally, a previously unknown over-density consistent with that of a star cluster is identified in the region of analysis.
The features and make up of the population of X-ray sources in Galactic star clusters reflect the properties of the underlying stellar environment. Cluster age, mass, stellar encounter rate, binary frequency, metallicity, and maybe other properties a s well, determine to what extent we can expect a contribution to the cluster X-ray emission from low-mass X-ray binaries, millisecond pulsars, cataclysmic variables, and magnetically active binaries. Sensitive X-ray observations with XMM-Newton and certainly Chandra have yielded new insights into the nature of individual sources and the effects of dynamical encounters. They have also provided a new perspective on the collective X-ray properties of clusters, in which the X-ray emissivities of globular clusters and old open clusters can be compared to each other and to those of other environments. I will review our current understanding of cluster X-ray sources, focusing on star clusters older than about 1 Gyr, illustrated with recent results.
التعليقات
جاري جلب التعليقات جاري جلب التعليقات
mircosoft-partner

هل ترغب بارسال اشعارات عن اخر التحديثات في شمرا-اكاديميا