Radial velocities in the open cluster Trumpler 14

Spatially-homogenous and anisotropic Bianchi type-II and III cosmological models are obtained in Barber's second self-creation theory of gravitation both in vacuum and in the presence of perfect fluid with pressure equal to energy density. Some properties of the models are discussed.     

The open cluster Berkeley 53

We present a photometric study of the neglected open cluster Berkeley 53. We derived its fundamental parameters, such as the age, the interstellar reddening, and the distance from the Sun, based on BV photometry combined with near‐infrared JHK_S data. The structure and the mass function of the cluster were also studied and the total number of members and the total mass were estimated. The cluster was found to be a rich and massive stellar system, located in the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way, 3.1 ± 0.1 kpc from the Sun. Its age exceeds 1 Gy but it seems tobe very young in the context of its dynamical evolution. The analysis of the two‐color diagrams and color‐magnitude diagrams indicates that the cluster is significantly reddened. However, both methods resulted in different values of E (B – V), i.e. 1.21 ± 0.04 and 1.52 ± 0.01, respectively. This discrepancy suggests the presence of an abnormal interstellar extinction law toward the cluster (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The young open cluster Trumpler 3

We present a photometric and spectroscopic study of the poorly investigated open cluster Trumpler 3. Basic parameters such as the age of 70 ± 10 Myr, the color excess E (B – V) = 0.30 ± 0.02 mag, the distance of 0.69 ± 0.03 kpc and the limiting radius of 12′ were redetermined and compared with previous preliminary studies. The distance of 0.65 ± 0.09 kpc was determined independently by spectral parallaxes. Simultaneously, our analysis allowed us to estimate a total number of members to be N_tot = 570 ± 90 and a total mass of the cluster to be M_tot = 270 ± 40 M_⊙. We also determined a state of cluster's dynamical evolution. We conclude that Trumpler 3 is a young low‐massive stellar ensemble with a typical mass function slope, located near to the outer edge of the Galaxy's Orion Spur. As a result of a wide‐field search for short period variable stars, 24 variables were discovered in the cluster's area. Only one of them – a variable of the γ ‐Dor type – was found to be a likely cluster member (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The young open cluster NGC 2129

The first charge-coupled device   UBV ( RI )_C  photometric study in the area of the doubtful open cluster NGC 2129 is presented. Photometry of a field offset 15 arcmin northwards is also provided, to probe the Galactic disc population towards the cluster. Using star counts, proper motions from the UCAC2 catalogue, colour–magnitude and colour–colour diagrams, we demonstrate that NGC 2129 is a young open cluster. The cluster radius is 2.5 arcmin, and across this region we find evidence of significant differential reddening, although the reddening law seems to be normal towards its direction. Updated estimates of the cluster fundamental parameters are provided. The mean reddening is found to be   E ( B − V ) = 0.80 ± 0.08  and the distance modulus is  ( m − M )₀= 11.70 ± 0.30  . Hence, NGC 2129 is located at 2.2 ± 0.2 kpc from the Sun inside the Local spiral arm. The age derived from 37 photometrically selected members is estimated to be approximately 10 Myr. These stars are used to provide new estimates of the cluster absolute proper-motion components.     

The Praesepe open cluster and the galactic distance scale

Updated proper motions for 328 probable members of the Praesepe are used to determine the distance to this open cluster by Hertzsprung's geometric method. The cluster distance was found to be r=171±15 pc, which corresponds to the distance modulus $V_0 - M_V = 6\mathop .\limits^m 16 \pm 0.19$ . The distance scale for open clusters is discussed.     

The stellar content of the young open cluster Trumpler 37

With an apparent cluster diameter of 1.5° and an age of 4 Myr, Trumpler 37 is an ideal target for photometric monitoring of young stars as well as for the search of planetary transits, eclipsing binaries and other sources of variability. The YETI consortium has monitored Trumpler 37 throughout 2010 and 2011 to obtain a comprehensive view of variable phenomena in this region. In this first paper we present the cluster properties and membership determination as derived from an extensive investigation of the literature. We also compared the coordinate list to some YETI images. For 1872 stars we found literature data. Among them 774 have high probability of being member and 125 a medium probability. Based on infrared data we re‐calculate a cluster extinction of 0.9–1.2 mag. We can confirm the age and distance to be 3–5 Myr and870 pc. Stellar masses are determined from theoretical models and the mass function is fitted with a power‐law index of α = 1.90 (0.1–0.4 M_⊙) and α = 1.12 (1–10 M_⊙). (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Photometry of open cluster NGC 1931

PhotoelectricUBV magnitudes and colours have been determined for stars in the field of NGC 1931. The reddening across the cluster varies from 0 _. ^m 33 to 1 _. ^m 20. A distance of 2.16 kiloparsecs has been estimated for the cluster. It is concluded that the age of the cluster lies between the ages of NGC 6231 and NGC 2362 groups.     

The formation of the Oort cloud in open cluster environments

We study the influence of an open cluster environment on the formation and current structure of the Oort cloud. To do this, we have run 19 different simulations of the formation of the Oort cloud for 4.5 Gyrs. In each simulation, the Solar System spends its first 100 Myrs in a different open cluster environment before transitioning to its current field environment. We find that, compared to forming in the field environment, the inner Oort cloud is preferentially loaded with comets while the Sun resides in the open cluster and that most of this material remains locked in the interior of the cloud for the next 4.4 Gyrs. In addition, the outer Oort cloud trapping efficiencies we observe in our simulations are lower than previous formation models by about a factor of 2, possibly implying an even more massive early planetesimal disk. Furthermore, some of our simulations reproduce the orbits of observed extended scattered disk objects, which may serve as an observational constraint on the Sun's early environment. Depending on the particular open cluster environment, the properties of the inner Oort cloud and extended scattered disk can vary widely. On the other hand, the outer portions of the Oort cloud in each of our simulations are all similar.     

Revisiting the open cluster Lo 807

We have conducted an astrometric study of the open cluster Lo 807 using proper motion data from UCAC2 catalog. We applied the maximum likelihood method to determine cluster membership by using the proper motion data. The Padova isochrones lines with solar metallicity were fitted upon the Color Magnitude Diagram in near-infrared to derive physical parameters of the cluster. We do not detect significant variable reddening within the cluster. The present result is compared with our previous study.     

The distribution of Main-Sequence stars in the open cluster NGC 7789

By star counts on four plates with different limiting magnitudes, it was found that the relative frequency of Main-Sequence stars increases from the centre of the cluster to the boundary. It is shown that the stars of NGC 7789 are separated according to their masses.     

The first CCD photometric study of the open cluster NGC 744

We present the first CCD photometric observations of open cluster NGC 744, as part of the 50 BiN Open Cluster Survey. The color-magnitude diagrams of this cluster were derived from absolute BV RI photometry on a good photometric night. A brief isochrone fitting gives a distance modulus of(m-M)V= 11.58±0.2 and a reddening of E(B-V) = 0.35±0.05 with an age of log t = 8.30±0.05.By carefully examining the BV time-series data, we discovered four new variable stars in a 20′×20′field around the cluster. We classified them as three eclipsing binary stars and one δ Scuti pulsating star,mainly based on the light-curve shape, the detected periods and the positions on the color-magnitude diagrams.     

Membership in the open cluster NGC 2301

Astrometric cluster membership probabilities have been derived from proper motion of the open cluster NGC 2301. A comparison with previous investigations is presented.     

X-rays from the open cluster NGC 6633

NGC 6633 is a young, open cluster with a similar age to the Hyades and Praesepe, but probably a lower metallicity. We present the results of ROSAT High Resolution Imager observations of an optically selected catalogue of likely members of NGC 6633. 8 out of 51 NGC 6633 members have been detected, with main-sequence spectral types A to G, above a threshold X-ray luminosity of ≈6–12×10²⁸ erg s⁻¹. We find that NGC 6633 does not contain cool stars that are as X-ray luminous as the most active objects in the Hyades and that the median X-ray luminosity of F-G stars in NGC 6633 is less than that in the Hyades, but probably greater than in Praesepe. However, when X-ray activity is expressed as the X-ray to bolometric flux ratio we find that NGC 6633 and the Hyades are very similar and display similar peak levels of coronal activity. We attribute this discrepancy to a number of possible wide binary systems with higher X-ray (and bolometric) luminosities in the Hyades sample and either a low metallicity in NGC 6633, which makes its cool stars both X-ray and bolometrically less luminous at the same colour, or a distance to NGC 6633 that has been underestimated, which would decrease stellar X-ray luminosities without changing X-ray to bolometric flux ratios.     

Single star scattering on an open cluster

We examine the scattering of single stars from an open star cluster. The probability of the capture of a star by a star cluster is dependent on the velocity and mass of the star, and the stars that are not captured experience a velocity change. For low-velocity stars there is an exponential decrease of the capture probability with the initial velocity, and the velocity change decreases almost linearly. For high-velocity stars there is a v ⁻⁶ dependence for the capture probability, and a v ⁻¹ dependence for the velocity change. Analytical estimations, Monte Carlo and full N -body simulations are all in good agreement.