J/A+A/704/A50 Tidal Tails of Nearby Open Clusters. II (Jadhav+, 2025)
Tidal tails of nearby open clusters. II. A review of simulated properties and
the reliability of observational catalogues.
Jadhav V.V., Risbud D., Kroupa P., Wu W.
<Astron. Astrophys. 704, A50 (2025)>
=2025A&A...704A..50J 2025A&A...704A..50J (SIMBAD/NED BibCode)
ADC_Keywords: Milky Way ; Clusters, open ; Positional data ; Optical
Keywords: methods: numerical - methods: observational - catalogs -
stars: kinematics and dynamics -
open clusters and associations: general
Abstract:
Recent studies using Gaia data have reported tidal tail detections for
tens to hundreds of open clusters. However, a comprehensive assessment
of the reliability and completeness of these detections is lacking.
This work aims to summarise the expected properties of tidal tails
based on N-body simulations, review the reliability of tidal tail
detections in the literature, and grade them according to a set of
diagnostic tests.
We used a grid of 68-20000M☉ simulated clusters and analysed the
formation and evolution of the tails. We compiled 122 catalogues (58
unique clusters) from literature, within 500pc of the Sun. We employed
tests based on photometric, morphological and dynamical signatures,
and comparisons with simulations, to grade their tails.
Based on the simulations, we analysed the complex morphology of the
tails and their properties (e.g., size, span, stellar types, number
density, and mass function) at various cluster masses and ages. During
the first 200Myr of evolution, the tails typically form a
characteristic S shape, with an amplitude that scales with cluster
mass. The tail span increases at a rate of 4 times the initial
velocity dispersion, and the near- tail is predominantly populated by
recent escapees.
In the 122 published tail catalogues, we found that 15 gold and 55
silver catalogues passed the majority of the tests. The remaining 51
were graded as bronze; care should be taken before using these for
further analysis. The age, metallicity, binary fraction, and mass
function of stars in the tails were generally consistent with those of
their parent clusters. The gold/silver catalogues (69 catalogues of 40
clusters) represent reliable samples for detailed analyses of tails.
Future data will be essential for further validation and for
leveraging tidal tails as tracers of cluster dissolution and the
Galactic potential.
Description:
The cluster.dat provides cluster and tidal tail parameters such as
their astrometry, size, age, binary fraction, and the flags based on
the diagnostid tests done on the tidal tails. The sources.dat table
contains the parameters of individual stars such as the astrometry,
photometry, distance along the orbit and mass.
File Summary:
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FileName Lrecl Records Explanations
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ReadMe 80 . This file
clusters.dat 272 122 Cluster properties
sources.dat 329 57981 Stellar properties
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See also:
I/352 : Distances to 1.47 billion stars in Gaia EDR3
(Bailer-Jones+, 2021)
I/355 : Gaia DR3 (Gaia Collaboration, 2022)
J/A+A/621/L2 : Hyades tidal tails revealed by Gaia DR2 (Roeser+, 2019)
J/A+A/621/L3 : Hyades tidal tails with Gaia DR2 (Meingast+, 2019)
J/A+A/623/A108 : Age of 269 GDR2 open clusters (Bossini+, 2019)
J/A+A/624/L11 : Coma Berenices neighbor moving group (Fuernkranz+, 2019)
J/A+A/627/A4 : Praesepe (NGC 2632) and its tidal tails (Roeser+, 2019)
J/A+A/645/A84 : Coronae of nearby star cluster (Meingast+, 2021)
J/A+A/647/A137 : 800pc tidal tail of Hyades (Jerabkova+, 2021)
J/A+A/675/A28 : Properties of Group X candidate members (Olivares+, 2023)
J/A+A/679/A105 : Members and fugitives of nearby open clusters (Vaher+, 2023)
J/A+A/686/A42 : Improving the open cluster census. III (Hunt+, 2024)
J/A+A/691/A28 : Tidal tails of open clusters (Kos, 2024)
J/A+A/694/A258 : Tidal tails of nearby open clusters (Risbud+, 2025)
J/ApJ/877/12 : Coma Ber and a Neighbor Stellar Group tidal tails
(Tang+, 2019)
J/ApJ/889/99 : Gaia DR2 Blanco 1 member candidates (Zhang+, 2020)
J/ApJ/912/162 : Open clusters in solar neighborhood (Pang+, 2021)
J/ApJ/931/156 : 3D morphology of open clusters with Gaia EDR3. II.
(Pang+, 2022)
J/MNRAS/498/1920 : The death throes of the Hyades with Gaia (Oh+, 2020)
Byte-by-byte Description of file: clusters.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1- 13 A13 --- Cluster Cluster name (cluster)
15- 30 A16 --- Ref Reference of the source catalogue
(reference) (G1)
32- 34 I3 --- ClusterID Unique cluster ID (cluster_id)
36- 47 F12.8 deg RAdeg [0.91/353.88] Right ascension (ICRS)
at Ep=2016 (RAdeg) (1)
49- 60 F12.8 deg DEdeg [-68.53/71.49] Declination (ICRS)
at Ep=2016 (DEdeg) (1)
62- 73 F12.8 pc dist50 [47.19/489.87] Distance from the Sun
(dist50) (1)
75- 84 F10.8 [yr] logAge50 [7.26/9.16] Logarithm of cluster age
( logAge50) (1)
86- 98 F13.8 mas/yr pmRA [-35.95/104.14] Proper motion in R.A.
direction (pmRA) (1)
100-111 F12.8 mas/yr pmDE [-45.46/23.27] Proper motion in Dec.
direction (pmDE) (1)
113-124 F12.8 km/s RV [-29.86/43.45] Radial Velocity (RV) (1)
126 I1 --- fNoPlxI Flag indicating absence of elongation due to
parallax (fnoplx_issue)
128 I1 --- fxyExt Flag indicating extended structure in
Galactocentric XY plane (fxyextension)
130 I1 --- fxyShape Flag for expected morphology (fxyshape)
132 I1 --- fxyTor Flag for torsion signature in
Galactocentric XY plane (fxytorsion)
134 I1 --- fskyExt Flag for extended structure in sky plane
(fskyextension)
136 I1 --- fskyTor Flag for torsion signature in sky plane
(fskytorsion)
138 I1 --- fall [1/6] Summation of the 6 pertinent flags
(f_all)
140 A1 --- Grade [GSB] Grade of the catalogue
(G=gold, S=silver, B=bronze) (grade)
142-145 I4 --- Nall [33/2690] Number of all stars in the
catalogue (n_all)
147-149 I3 --- NLead Number of stars in leading tail (LT)
(n_leading)
151-154 I4 --- NCluster [32/1552] Number of stars in the cluster
(n_cluster)
156-158 I3 --- NTrail Number of stars in trailing tail (TT)
(n_trailing)
160-163 I4 --- NrefAll [27/2481]? Number of all reference stars for
binary fraction calculation.
Only sources with mass. (nreferenceall)
165-167 I3 --- NrefLead ? Number of reference stars in LT
(nreferenceleading)
169-172 I4 --- NrefCluster [26/1438]? Number of reference stars in
cluster (nreferencecluster)
174-176 I3 --- NrefTrail ? Number of reference stars in TT
(nreferencetrailing)
178-180 I3 --- NbinAll [6/508]? Number of all binary stars (q>0.5).
Limited to sources with mass estimates.
(nbinaryall)
182-184 I3 --- NbinLead ? Number of binary stars in LT
(nbinaryleading)
186-188 I3 --- NbinCluster [5/250]? Number of binary stars in cluster
(nbinarycluster)
190-192 I3 --- NbinTrail ? Number of binary stars in TT
(nbinarytrailing)
194-199 F6.3 --- BFall [0.08/0.36]? Total binary fraction (BF_all)
201-206 F6.3 --- e_BFall [0.0/0.1]? Error in BF_all (eBFall)
208-213 F6.3 --- BFLead ? Binary fraction in LT (BF_leading)
215-220 F6.3 --- e_BFLead [0.02/1.42]? Error in BF_leading
(eBFleading)
222-227 F6.3 --- BFCluster [0.07/0.4]? Binary fraction in cluster
(BF_cluster)
229-234 F6.3 --- e_BFCluster [0.01/0.12]? Error in BF_cluster
(eBFcluster)
236-241 F6.3 --- BFTrail ? Binary fraction in TT (BF_trailing)
243-248 F6.3 --- e_BFTrail [0.02/1.42]? Error in BF_trailing
(eBFtrailing)
250-256 F7.3 pc spanAll [16.41/881.96] Span of all stars along the
cluster orbit (span_all)
258-264 F7.3 pc spanLead Span of the LT along the cluster orbit
(span_leading)
266-272 F7.3 pc spanTrail Span of the TT along the cluster orbit
(span_trailing)
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Note (1): from Hunt and Reffert, 2024A&A...686A..42H 2024A&A...686A..42H , Cat. J/A+A/686/A42.
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: sources.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1- 19 I19 --- GaiaDR3 Gaia DR3 source_id (GaiaDR3)
21- 33 A13 --- Cluster Cluster name (cluster)
35- 50 A16 --- Ref Reference of the source catalogue
(reference) (G1)
52- 54 I3 --- ClusterID Unique Cluster ID (cluster_id)
56 A1 --- Grade [GSB] Grade of the catalogue
(G=gold, S=silver, B=bronze) (grade)
58 A1 --- Class [CLT] Membership (C=cluster, L=leading tail,
T=trailing tail) (class)
60- 69 F10.6 deg RAdeg [0.01/359.99] Right ascension (ICRS)
at Ep=2016 (RAdeg)
71- 80 F10.6 deg DEdeg [-88.67/82.08] Declination (ICRS)
at Ep=2016 (DEdeg)
82- 90 F9.4 pc rmedgeo [8.08/1259.71] Geometric distance
(Bailer-Jones et al., 2021, Cat. I/352)
(rmedgeo)
92-100 F9.4 mas/yr pmRA [-154.4/772.18] Proper motion in R.A.
direction (pmRA*cosDE, Gaia) (pmRA)
102-110 F9.4 mas/yr pmDE [-217.21/458.25] Proper motion in Dec.
direction (Gaia) (pmDE)
112-120 F9.4 km/s RV [-276.82/770.13]? Radial velocity (Gaia)
(RV)
122-128 F7.4 mag Gmag [2.68/20.79] Gaia DR3 G band magnitude
(Gaia) (Gmag)
130-137 F8.4 mag BPmag [3.15/22.35]? Gaia DR3 BP band magnitude
(Gaia) (BPmag)
139-146 F8.4 mag RPmag [2.57/20.01]? Gaia DR3 RP band magnitude
(Gaia) (RPmag)
148-154 F7.4 mag BP-RP [-0.42/4.95]? Gaia DR3 BP-RP colour
(Gaia) (BP_RP)
156-163 F8.4 mag GMAG [-4.15/20.26] Absolute G band magnitude
(Gaia) (GaMAG)
165-170 F6.2 pc r3d [0.07/904.38] Cartesian distance from the
cluster centre (r_3d)
172-178 F7.2 km/s v3d [0.03/767.96]? Cartesian speed relative to
the cluster centre (v_3d)
180-186 F7.4 deg rsky [0.0/57.3] Distance from the cluster centre
projected on the sky (r_sky)
188-197 F10.4 mas/yr pmR [-123.12/1729.76] Radial component of the
projected proper motion from the cluster
centre (pm_R)
199-204 F6.4 mas/yr e_pmR Error in pm_R (epmR)
206-214 F9.4 mas/yr pmT [-501.33/490.82] Tangential component of the
projected proper motion from the cluster
centre (pm_T)
216-221 F6.4 mas/yr e_pmT Error in pm_T (epmT)
223-231 F9.4 km/s deltaRVGC [-240.36/637.97]? Relative radial velocity
in the Galactic plane as seen from the
Galactic centre (deltavr_GC)
233-239 F7.4 deg deltaphiGC [-3.85/3.49] Relative azimuth. Angle created
by the Sun-GC-star on the Galactic plane
(deltaphiGC)
241-246 F6.2 pc distFromO [0.05/904.08] Distance between the star and
the clusters Galactic orbit
(distancefromorbit)
248-254 F7.2 pc distAlongO [-493.73/546.63] Distance between the centre
and the point closest to the star on the
Galactic orbit (distancealongorbit)
256-262 F7.4 mag cmdDist ? Distance from the region defined by the
RLs of q=0 and q=1 in the CMD
(cmd_distance)
264-267 F4.1 --- q ? Mass ratio (q)
269-273 F5.2 --- e_q ? Error in mass ratio (e_q)
275-281 F7.4 Msun MassSysMLR [0.14/4.73]? Mass using mass-mag relation of
parsec ZAMS. NOT to be used for science
(masssystemMLR)
283-289 F7.4 Msun MassSys [0.09/7.21]? Mass of the source assuming an
unresolved binary system (mass_system)
291-297 F7.4 Msun e_MassSys [0.03/1.1]? Error in mass_system
(emasssystem)
299-305 F7.4 Msun MassA [0.09/5.05]? Mass of primary component of
the unresolved binary system (mass_A)
307-313 F7.4 Msun e_MassA [0.02/1.1]? Error in MassA (emassA)
315-321 F7.4 Msun MassB ? Mass of secondary component of the
unresolved binary system (mass_B)
323-329 F7.4 Msun e_MassB ? Error in MassB (emassB)
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Global notes:
Note (G1): References as follows:
Bhattacharya2022 = 2022MNRAS.517.3525B 2022MNRAS.517.3525B
Boffin2022 = 2022MNRAS.514.3579B 2022MNRAS.514.3579B
Fuernkranz2019 = 2019A&A...627A...4R 2019A&A...627A...4R, Cat. J/A+A/627/A4
Jerabkova2021M1 = 2021A&A...647A.137J 2021A&A...647A.137J, Cat. J/A+A/647/A137, tableb1
Jerabkova2021M5 = 2021A&A...647A.137J 2021A&A...647A.137J, Cat. J/A+A/647/A137, tableb2
Kos2024 = 2024A&A...691A..28K 2024A&A...691A..28K, Cat. J/A+A/691/A28
Meingast2019 = 2019A&A...621L...3M 2019A&A...621L...3M, Cat. J/A+A/621/L3
Meingast2021 = 2021A&A...645A..84M 2021A&A...645A..84M, Cat. J/A+A/645/A84
Oh2020 = 2020MNRAS.498.1920O 2020MNRAS.498.1920O, Cat. J/MNRAS/498/1920
Olivares2023 = 2023A&A...675A..28O 2023A&A...675A..28O, Cat. J/A+A/675/A28
Pang2021 = 2021ApJ...912..162P 2021ApJ...912..162P, Cat. J/ApJ/912/162
Pang2022 = 2022ApJ...931..156P 2022ApJ...931..156P, Cat. J/ApJ/931/156
Risbud2025 = 2025A&A...694A.258R 2025A&A...694A.258R, Cat. J/A+A/694/A258
Roser2019 = 2019A&A...627A...4R 2019A&A...627A...4R, Cat. J/A+A/627/A4
Tang2019 = 2019ApJ...877...12T 2019ApJ...877...12T, Cat. J/ApJ/877/12
Vaher2023 = 2023A&A...679A.105V 2023A&A...679A.105V, Cat. J/A+A/679/A105
Zhang2020 = 2020ApJ...889...99Z 2020ApJ...889...99Z, Cat. J/ApJ/889/99
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Acknowledgements:
Vikrant V. Jadhav, vjadhav(at)astro.uni-bonn.de
References:
Risbud et al., Paper I 2025A&A...694A.258R 2025A&A...694A.258R, Cat. J/A+A/694/A258
(End) Patricia Vannier [CDS] 21-Aug-2025