J/A+A/689/A268 Spatial evolution of star clusters (Viscasillas Vazquez+, 2024)
Gaia DR3 reveals the complex dynamical evolution within star clusters.
Viscasillas Vazquez C., Magrini L., Miret-Roig N., Wright N.J., Alves J.,
Spina L., Church R.P., Tautvaisiene G., Randich S.
<Astron. Astrophys. 689, A268 (2024)>
=2024A&A...689A.268V 2024A&A...689A.268V (SIMBAD/NED BibCode)
ADC_Keywords: Milky Way ; Clusters, open ; Positional data
Keywords: Galaxy: abundances - Galaxy: disk - Galaxy: evolution -
Galaxy: kinematics and dynamics -
open clusters and associations: general
Abstract:
Star clusters, composed of stars born from the same molecular cloud,
serve as invaluable natural laboratories for understanding the
fundamental processes governing stellar formation and evolution. This
study aims to investigate correlations between the Mean Interdistance
({bar}Di), Mean Closest Interdistance ({bar}Dc) and Median
Weighted Central Interdistance ({bar}Dcc) with the age of star
clusters, examining their evolutionary trends and assessing the
robustness of these quantities as possible age indicators. We selected
a sample of open clusters in the solar region and with a
representative number of members (e.g. well populated and without
outliers). The interdistances are derived from the spatial
distribution of member stars within a cluster. Their evolution over
time allows us to use them as an age indicators for star clusters. Our
investigation reveals a high-significant correlation between the
interdistances and cluster age. Considering the full sample of
clusters between 7 and 9kpc, the relationship is very broad. This is
due to uncertainties in parallax, which increase with increasing
distance. In particular, we must limit the sample to a maximum
distance from the Sun of about 200pc to avoid artificial effects on
cluster shape and on the spatial distribution of their stars along the
line of sight. By conservatively restraining the distance to a maximum
of ∼200pc, we have established a relationship between the
interdistances and the age of the clusters. In our sample, the
relationship is mainly driven by the internal expansion of the
clusters, and is marginally affected by external perturbative effects.
Such relation might enhance our comprehension of cluster dynamics and
might be used to derive cluster dynamical ages.
Description:
Main properties of the final sample of 81 open clusters
File Summary:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FileName Lrecl Records Explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ReadMe 80 . This file
tablea1.dat 71 81 Main properties of the final sample of
81 open clusters
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See also:
J/AJ/167/12 : Open cluster parameters with ANN (Cavallo+, 2024)
Byte-by-byte Description of file: tablea1.dat
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1- 11 A11 --- Cluster Cluster name
13- 17 F5.3 kpc Di Mean interdistance
19- 23 F5.3 kpc Dc Mean closest interdistance
25- 29 F5.3 kpc Dcc Median weighted central interdistance
31- 35 F5.3 Gyr Age Cluster age from
Cavallo et al. (2024AJ....167...12C 2024AJ....167...12C)
37- 41 F5.3 kpc Rgc Cluster galactocentric distance from
Cavallo et al. (2024AJ....167...12C 2024AJ....167...12C)
43- 47 F5.3 --- e Eccentricity
49- 53 F5.3 kpc Zmax Maximun height from the Galactic plane
55- 59 F5.3 --- PC1 First Principal Component
61- 65 F5.3 --- PC2 Second Principal Component
67- 71 F5.3 --- PC3 Third Principal Component
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Acknowledgements:
Carlos Viscasillas Vazquez, carlos.viscasillas(at)ff.vu.lt
(End) Patricia Vannier [CDS] 01-Jul-2024