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Photometry of a Galactic Field at l=232°, b=-6°: The Old Open Cluster Auner 1, the Norma-Cygnus Spiral Arm, and the Signature of the Warped Galactic Thick Disk
We perform a detailed photometric study of the stellar populations in aGalactic field at l=232deg, b=-6deg in the CanisMajor (CMa) constellation. We present the first U, B, V, I photometry ofthe old open cluster Auner 1 and determine it to be ~3.25 Gyr old and tolie 8.9 kpc from the Sun. In the background of the cluster, at more than9 kpc, we detect a young population most likely associated with theNorma-Cygnus spiral arm. Furthermore, we detect the signature of anolder population and identify its turnoff and red giant branch. Thispopulation is found to have a mean age of 7 Gyr and a mean metallicityof Z=0.006. We reconstruct the geometry of the stellar distribution andargue that this older population, often associated with the CMa``galaxy,'' in fact belongs to the warped old thin- and thick-diskcomponents along this line of sight.
| 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.
| Spiral structure of the third galactic quadrant and the solution to the Canis Major debate
With the discovery of the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal, a galaxy caughtin the process of merging with the Milky Way, the hunt for other suchaccretion events has become a very active field of astrophysicalresearch. The identification of a stellar ring-like structure inMonoceros, spanning more than 100°, and the detection of anoverdensity of stars in the direction of the constellation of CanisMajor (CMa), apparently associated to the ring, has led to thewidespread belief that a second galaxy being cannibalized by the MilkyWay had been found. In this scenario, the overdensity would be theremaining core of the disrupted galaxy and the ring would be the tidaldebris left behind. However, unlike the Sagittarius dwarf, which is wellbelow the Galactic plane and whose orbit, and thus tidal tail, is nearlyperpendicular to the plane of the Milky Way, the putative CMa galaxy andring are nearly co-planar with the Galactic disc. This severelycomplicates the interpretation of observations. In this Letter, we showthat our new description of the Milky Way leads to a completelydifferent picture. We argue that the Norma-Cygnus spiral arm defines adistant stellar ring crossing Monoceros and the overdensity is simply aprojection effect of looking along the nearby local arm. Our perspectivesheds new light on a very poorly known region, the third Galacticquadrant, where CMa is located.
| Proper motion determination of open clusters based on the UCAC2 catalogue
We present the kinematics of hundreds of open clusters, based on theUCAC2 Catalogue positions and proper motions. Membership probabilitieswere obtained for the stars in the cluster fields by applying astatistical method uses stellar proper motions. All open clusters withknown distance were investigated, and for 75 clusters this is the firstdetermination of the mean proper motion. The results, including the DSSimages of the cluster's fields with the kinematic members marked, areincorporated in the Open Clusters Catalogue supported on line by ourgroup.
| The Evolutionary Status of Be Stars: Results from a Photometric Study of Southern Open Clusters
Be stars are a class of rapidly rotating B stars with circumstellardisks that cause Balmer and other line emission. There are threepossible reasons for the rapid rotation of Be stars: they may have beenborn as rapid rotators, spun up by binary mass transfer, or spun upduring the main-sequence (MS) evolution of B stars. To test the variousformation scenarios, we have conducted a photometric survey of 55 openclusters in the southern sky. Of these, five clusters are probably notphysically associated groups and our results for two other clusters arenot reliable, but we identify 52 definite Be stars and an additional 129Be candidates in the remaining clusters. We use our results to examinethe age and evolutionary dependence of the Be phenomenon. We find anoverall increase in the fraction of Be stars with age until 100 Myr, andBe stars are most common among the brightest, most massive B-type starsabove the zero-age main sequence (ZAMS). We show that a spin-up phase atthe terminal-age main sequence (TAMS) cannot produce the observeddistribution of Be stars, but up to 73% of the Be stars detected mayhave been spun-up by binary mass transfer. Most of the remaining Bestars were likely rapid rotators at birth. Previous studies havesuggested that low metallicity and high cluster density may also favorBe star formation. Our results indicate a possible increase in thefraction of Be stars with increasing cluster distance from the Galacticcenter (in environments of decreasing metallicity). However, the trendis not significant and could be ruled out due to the intrinsic scatterin our data. We also find no relationship between the fraction of Bestars and cluster density.
| 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.
| Galactic Metallicity Gradients Derived from a Sample of OB Stars
The distribution of stellar abundances along the Galactic disk is animportant constraint for models of chemical evolution and Galaxyformation. In this study we derive radial gradients of C, N, O, Mg, Al,and Si, as well as S, from abundance determinations in young OB stars.Our database is composed of a sample of 69 members of 25 open clusters,OB associations, and H II regions with Galactocentric distances between4.7 and 13.2 kpc. An important feature of this abundance database is thefact that the abundances were derived self-consistently in non-LTE usinga homogeneous set of stellar parameters. Such an uniform analysis isexpected to reduce the magnitude of random errors, as well as theinfluence of systematics in the gradients defined by the abundance andGalactocentric distance. The metallicity gradients obtained in thisstudy are, in general, flatter than the results from previous recentabundance studies of early-type stars. The slopes are found to bebetween -0.031 (for oxygen) and -0.052 dex kpc-1 (formagnesium). The gradients obtained for the studied elements are quitesimilar, and if averaged they can be represented by a single slope of-0.042+/-0.007dexkpc-1. This value is generally consistentwith an overall flattening of the radial gradients with time.
| Morphology of Galactic Open Clusters
We analyzed the shapes of Galactic open clusters by the star-countingtechnique with the Two Micron All Sky Survey star catalog database.Morphological parameters such as the ellipticity and size have beenderived via stellar density distribution, weighed by clusteringprobability. We find that most star clusters are elongated, even for theyoungest star clusters of a few million years old, which are locatednear the Galactic disk. The shapes of young star clusters must reflectthe conditions in the parental molecular clouds and during the clusterformation process. As an open cluster ages, stellar dynamics cause theinner part of the cluster to circularize, but the overall radius getslarger and the stellar density becomes sparser. We discuss how theinternal relaxation process competes with Galactic external perturbationduring cluster evolution.
| Chemical Abundances for a Sample of Southern OB Stars. II. The Outer Disk
Non-LTE abundances of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, aluminum, magnesium,silicon, and sulfur are derived for a sample of nine OB stars that aremembers of seven clusters or H II regions located outside the solarcircle, with Galactocentric distances between 9 and 13 kpc. Theabundance distribution for these stars is found to have a peak roughly0.3 dex lower than the average of the abundance distribution for OBstars from the inner disk. This result is in general agreement with thedisk metallicity discontinuity claimed from observations of openclusters and Cepheids. The abundances obtained for this outer disksample are all subsolar, with an average for C, N, O, Mg, and S of-0.39+/-0.05. For Si and Al, we find even lower average abundances of-0.56 and -0.58, respectively.Based on observations collected with the 1.52 m telescope at theEuropean Southern Observatory (La Silla, Chile) under agreement with theObservatório Nacional, Brazil.
| 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.
| Proper motions of open clusters based on the TYCHO2 Catalogue. II. Clusters farther than 1 kpc
We determined the mean absolute proper motion of 94 open clusterssituated farther than 1 kpc from the Sun. The results are derived fromthe stellar proper motion data given in the Tycho2 Catalogue. The meanproper motion of the clusters and membership probability of individualstars were obtained from the proper motion data by applying thestatistical method proposed by Sanders (\cite{Sanders1971}). Themeasurements made use of a large number of stars, usually several tens,for each cluster. The total number of stars investigated in the fieldsof the clusters is 4864 of which 2021 were considered members. For 55clusters, this is the first determination of the proper motion. Based onobservations of the ESA Hipparcos satellite. Tables 1 to 95 are 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/388/168
| The blue to red supergiant ratio in young clusters at various metallicities
We present new determinations of the blue to red supergiant ratio (B/R)in young open clusters at various metallicities. For this purpose, weexamine the HR diagrams of 45 clusters in the Galaxy and of 4 clustersin the Magellanic Clouds. The identification of supergiants is based onspectroscopic measurements (with photometric counts to check theresults). The new counts confirm the increase of the B/R ratio when themetallicity increases with the following normalized relation:(B/R)/((B/R)sun) =~ 0.05* e3(Z)/(Zsun)}, where Zsun=0.02 and(B/R)sun is the value of B/R at Zsun which dependson the definition of B and R and on the age interval considered (e.g.for spectroscopic counts including clusters with log age between 6.8 and7.5, (B/R)sun =~ 3 when B includes O, B and A supergiants).
| Open clusters in the third galactic quadrant. I. Photometry
We have performed a photometric survey of open clusters in the thirdGalactic quadrant in order to study the star formation history andspatial structure in the Canis Major-Puppis-Vela region. In this paperwe describe a catalogue of CCD U BV RI photometry of approximately 65000 stars in the fields of 30 open clusters. The data were obtained andreduced using the same telescope, the same reduction procedures, and thesame standard photometric system, which makes this catalogue the largesthomogeneous source of open cluster photometry so far. In subsequentpapers of this series, colour-colour and colour-magnitude diagrams willbe presented which, amongst other uses, will allow the determination ofan homogeneous set of cluster reddenings, distances, and ages that willconstitute the observational basis for our studies of the spatialstructure and star formation history in the third Galactic quadrant.
| 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.
| Absolute proper motions of 181 young open clusters.
Not Available
| The LS stars at 25 years
Since its publication in 1971, Stephenson and Sanduleak's Luminous Starsin the Southern Milky Way has served as a starting point for a wholegeneration of investigations of galactic structure and thecharacteristics of massive, early-type stars. This paper presents asilver-anniversary review of the Stephenson-Sanduleak "LS" stars: theirdistribution on the sky, observed magnitudes, colors and spectral types,their distribution in space, and the characteristics of some of the moreunique individual objects. While much has been learned of and from theseobjects, much fundamental data remain to be acquired.
| 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.
| New list of OB associations of our galaxy.
Not Available
| Topography of the Galactic disk - Z-structure and large-scale star formation
A 3D morphological description of the Galactic disk defined by the youngstellar population is delineated using a sample of young open clusterswith cataloged distances and treated with Kriging techniques. The valuesof the positional variable Z for the cluster sample are considered asprospectings of the displacement of the Galactic disk in respect to theequator in the plane. The Kriging technique is described with emphasison its application to the automatic cartography problem. A view of theGalactic disk in a region of about 3 kpc around the sun emerges fromthis treatment and shows a trough-peak structure with four maindepressions as the more striking features. The most prominentdepression, named Big Dent, is apparent at about 1.8 kpc in anapproximately 240-deg direction. It has an elliptical shape with axissizes of 1.5 and 3 kpc, reaching a Z value of 200 pc below the formalGalactic plane. Two-dimensional sections across some selected directionsof the topography show profiles in good agreement with previousobservational studies based on different object samples.
| More radial-velocity measurements in young open clusters
Further high resolution radial-velocity measurements are reported in 23young open clusters using the Kitt Peak CCD coude spectrograph on the0.9-m feed telescope. The radial velocities for the cluster stars arederived with the technique of cross correlation. The internal precisionof the velocity measurements is typically 2 km/s for early type stars.From these new data and previously published velocities, the observedstars in two clusters, NGC 663 and NGC 2287, were found to show arelatively small dispersion in the measured mean velocities. Furtherobservations of stars in young clusters will be useful in helping toestablish an early-type-star-velocity standard system.
| Some characteristics of complexes of open star clusters
Mean coordinates and velocities, phase sizes, mean elements of galacticorbits, mean ages, and metal abundances are given for 11 complexes ofopen clusters, and correlations between these characteristics arediscussed. The possible existence of a supercomplex encompassing 9 or 10complexes, and probably a number of individual clusters, is discussed.This rotates at an angular velocity of 10 to 13 km/s kpc.
| The determination of kinematic parameters of extremely young stars in the solar neighborhood using radial-velocity data and accounting for random errors in their photometric distances
Not Available
| A cluster analysis of open clusters
The Galactic distribution of 361 open clusters is studied using acluster analysis method. It is shown that more than half of the clustersenter groups with characteristic dimensions of several hundred parsecs.To distinguish physical clusters from random condensations, criteriabased on age similarity, the color of the main-sequence blue end, andthe integrated color and radial velocity of the clusters are used. Theproximity of these values suggests a physical unity and common origin ofclusters in a group.
| Catalog of open clusters and associated interstellar matter.
Not Available
| Kinematics of young open clusters and the rotation curve of our Galaxy
Published observational data on a sample of 105 kinematically andspatially distinct open clusters of early spectral type (up to B3) arecompiled in tables, graphs, and diagrams and characterizedstatistically. Findings reported include (1) solar motion expanding atLSR velocity 3 km/s or less (with no noncircular motion in the directionof rotation), (2) Oort constant A = 17.0 + or - 1.5 km/s kpc andsecond-order rotation term alpha = -2.0 + or - 0.6 km/s sq kpc at R-R0between -3 and 5 kpc, (3) maximum rotation-curve deviation + or - 10km/s at R-R0 about - or + 2 kpc, and (4) nondecreasing rotationalvelocities beyond about R-R0 = 3 kpc. The rotational velocities of H IIregions and molecular clouds in the Perseus arm are found to besignificantly lower than those of the open clusters.
| Catalogue of UBV Photometry and MK Spectral Types in Open Clusters (Third Edition)
Not Available
| Membership of stars in faint galactic open clusters
Low-dispersion spectra of the order of 1000 A/mm have been obtained forstars in several faint galactic clusters with a transmission gratingplaced in front of the photographic plate at the Cassegrain focus of theKavalur 102-cm telescope. The intensity distribution in the shorterwavelengths has been taken as the principal criterion for the spectralclassification of the individual stars in the area covered by thephotographic plate. The uncertainty in this procedure has been found tobe about two spectral subclasses. A combination of these spectralclasses with the visual magnitudes derived from the image diameters onthe Palomar Observatory Sky Survey charts provide the HR diagrams foreach cluster area. These diagrams are adequate to establish the clustermembership of any star to a first approximation. This technique has beentested on six galactic open clusters. Good agreement both in terms ofthe ages of the clusters and individual stellar membership is found.
| Open clusters and galactic structure
A total of 610 references to 434 clusters are employed in thecompilation of a catalog of open clusters with color-magnitude diagramson the UBV or RGU systems. Estimates of reddening, distance modulus, ageand number of cluster members are included. Although the sample isconsidered representative of the discoverable clusters in the galaxy,the observed distribution is nonuniform because of interstellarobscuration. Cluster distribution in the galactic plane is found to bedominated by the locations of dust clouds rather than by spiralstructure. The distributions of clusters as a function of age andrichness class show that the lifetimes of poor clusters are much shorterthan rich ones, and that clusters in the outer disk survive longer thanthose in the inner disk. An outer disk age which is only about 50% theage of the globular clusters is indicated by cluster statistics. Thethickening of the galactic disk with increasing galactocentric distancemay be due to either a younger dynamical age or a lower gravitationalpotential in the outer regions.
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