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Mass segregation

About: Mass segregation is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1024 publications have been published within this topic receiving 57729 citations.


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TL;DR: In this paper, the stellar and substellar mass function of the open cluster IC2391, plus its radial dependence, is presented to put constraints on the formation mechanism of brown dwarfs.
Abstract: We present the stellar and substellar mass function of the open cluster IC2391, plus its radial dependence, and use this to put constraints on the formation mechanism of brown dwarfs. Our multiband optical and infrared photometric survey with spectroscopic follow-up covers 11 square degrees, making it the largest survey of this cluster to date. We observe a radial variation in the mass function over the range 0.072 to 0.3Msol, but no significant variation in the mass function below the substellar boundary at the three cluster radius intervals analyzed. This lack of radial variation for low masses is what we would expect with the ejection scenario for brown dwarf formation, although considering that IC2391 has an age about three times older than its crossing time, we expect that brown dwarfs with a velocity greater than the escape velocity have already escaped the cluster. Alternatively, the variation in the mass function of the stellar objects could be an indication that they have undergone mass segregation via dynamical evolution. We also observe a significant variation across the cluster in the colour of the (background) field star locus in colour-magnitude diagrams and conclude that this is due to variable background extinction in the Galactic plane. From our preliminary spectroscopic follow-up to confirm brown dwarf status and cluster membership, we find that all candidates are M dwarfs (in either the field or the cluster), demonstrating the efficiency of our photometric selection method in avoiding contaminants (e.g. red giants). About half of our photometric candidates for which we have spectra are spectroscopically-confirmed as cluster members; two are new spectroscopically-confirmed brown dwarf members of IC2391.

16 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors presented deep optical observations of the central $\sim$2.5$\times$ 2.5 pc$^2$ area of the Berkeley 59 cluster, obtained with the 3.58m Telescopio Nazionale Galileo.
Abstract: Berkeley 59 is a nearby ($\sim$1 kpc) young cluster associated with the Sh2-171 H{\sc ii} region. We present deep optical observations of the central $\sim$2.5$\times$2.5 pc$^2$ area of the cluster, obtained with the 3.58-m Telescopio Nazionale Galileo. The $V$/($V$-$I$) color-magnitude diagram manifests a clear pre-main-sequence (PMS) population down to $\sim$ 0.2 M$_\odot$. Using the near-infrared and optical colors of the low-mass PMS members we derive a global extinction of A$_V$= 4 mag and a mean age of $\sim$ 1.8 Myr, respectively, for the cluster. We constructed the initial mass function and found that its global slopes in the mass ranges of 0.2 - 28 M$_\odot$ and 0.2 - 1.5 M$_\odot$ are -1.33 and -1.23, respectively, in good agreement with the Salpeter value in the solar neighborhood. We looked for the radial variation of the mass function and found that the slope is flatter in the inner region than in the outer region, indicating mass segregation. The dynamical status of the cluster suggests that the mass segregation is likely primordial. The age distribution of the PMS sources reveals that the younger sources appear to concentrate close to the inner region compared to the outer region of the cluster, a phenomenon possibly linked to the time evolution of star-forming clouds is discussed. Within the observed area, we derive a total mass of $\sim$ 10$^3$ M$_\odot$ for the cluster. Comparing the properties of Berkeley 59 with other young clusters, we suggest it resembles more to the Trapezium cluster.

16 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the structure of two old open clusters, NGC 1245 and NGC 2506, from a wide and deep VI photometry data acquired using the CFH12K CCD camera at CFHT was studied.
Abstract: We studied the structure of two old open clusters, NGC 1245 and NGC 2506, from a wide and deep VI photometry data acquired using the CFH12K CCD camera at CFHT. We devised a new method for assigning cluster membership probability to individual stars using both spatial positions and positions in the colour-magnitude diagram. From analyses of the luminosity functions at several cluster-centric radii and the radial surface density profiles derived from stars with different luminosity ranges, we found that the two clusters are dynamically relaxed to drive significant mass segregation and evaporation of some fraction of low-mass stars. There seems to be a signature of tidal tail in NGC 1245 but the signal is too low to be confirmed.

16 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a wide-field photometric survey was conducted in a single 52' × 52' field towards the Lupus Galactic Plane in an effort to detect transiting Hot Jupiter planets.
Abstract: We have conducted a wide-field photometric survey in a single 52' × 52' field towards the Lupus Galactic Plane in an effort to detect transiting Hot Jupiter planets. The data set also led to the detection of 494 field variables, all of which are new discoveries. This paper presents an overview of the project, along with the total catalog of variables, which comprises 190 eclipsing binaries (of contact, semi-contact, and detached configurations), 51 miscellaneous pulsators of various types, 237 long-period variables (P ≥ 2 d), 11 δ Scuti stars, 4 field RR Lyrae (3 disk and 1 halo) and 1 irregular variable. Our survey provides a complete catalog of W UMa eclipsing binaries in the field to V = 18.8, which display a Gaussian period distribution of 0.277 ± 0.036 d. Several binary systems are likely composed of equal-mass M-dwarf components and others display evidence of mass transfer. We find 17 candidate blue stragglers and one binary that has the shortest period known, 0.2009 d (V = 20.9). The frequency of eclipsing binaries (all types) is found to be 1.7 ± 0.4 × 10−3 per star, substantially higher (by a factor of 3-10) than previously determined in the halos of the globular clusters 47 Tuc and ω Cen. This indicates that cluster dynamics aid mass segregation and binary destruction.

16 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, Johnson et al. presented results from Johnson $UBV$, Kron-Cousins $RI$ and Washington $CT_1T_2$ photometries for seven van den Bergh-Hagen (vdBH) open clusters, namely, vdBH\,1, 10, 31, 72, 87, 92, and 118.
Abstract: We present results from Johnson $UBV$, Kron-Cousins $RI$ and Washington $CT_1T_2$ photometries for seven van den Bergh-Hagen (vdBH) open clusters, namely, vdBH\,1, 10, 31, 72, 87, 92, and 118. The high-quality, multi-band photometric data sets were used to trace the cluster stellar density radial profiles and to build colour-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) and colour-colour (CC) diagrams from which we estimated their structural parameters and fundamental astrophysical properties. The clusters in our sample cover a wide age range, from $\sim$ 60 Myr up to 2.8 Gyr, are of relatively small size ($\sim$ 1 $-$ 6 pc) and are placed at distances from the Sun which vary between 1.8 and 6.3 kpc, respectively. We also estimated lower limits for the cluster present-day masses as well as half-mass relaxation times ($t_r$). The resulting values in combination with the structural parameter values suggest that the studied clusters are in advanced stages of their internal dynamical evolution (age/$t_r$ $\sim$ 20 $-$ 320), possibly in the typical phase of those tidally filled with mass segregation in their core regions. Compared to open clusters in the solar neighbourhood, the seven vdBH clusters are within more massive ($\sim$ 80 $-$ 380$M_\odot$), with higher concentration parameter values ($c$ $\sim$ 0.75$-$1.15) and dynamically evolved ones.

16 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
202336
202225
202133
202047
201943
201822