• At what mass are stars braked? The implication from the turnoff morphology of NGC 6819

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Extended main-sequence turnoffs apparent in most young and intermediate-age clusters (younger than ~2 Gyr) are known features caused by fast rotating early-type (earlier than F-type) stars. Late-type stars are not fast rotators because their initial angular momenta have been quickly dispersed due to magnetic braking. However, the mass limit below which stars have been magnetically braked has not been well constrained by observation. In this paper, we present an analysis of the eMSTO of NGC 6819, an open cluster of an intermediate-age (~2.5 Gyr), believed to be comparable to the lifetime of stars near the mass limit for magnetic braking. By comparing the observation with synthetic CMDs, we find that NGC 6819 does not harbor an obvious eMSTO. The morphology of its TO region can be readily explained by a simple stellar population considering the observational uncertainties as well as the differential reddening. In addition, the MSTO stars in NGC 6819 have very small values of average rotational velocity and dispersion, indicating that they have undergone significant magnetic braking. Combining with results in the literature for clusters of younger ages, our current work suggests that the critical age for the disappearance of eMSTO in star clusters must be shorter but very close to the age of NGC 6819, and this, in turn, implies a critical stellar mass for magnetic braking at solar metallicity above but close to 1.54 $M_{\odot}$ based on the PARSEC model. We emphasize that the phenomenon of eMSTO could provide a unique way to constrain the onset mass of magnetic braking.

  • Tracing the Origin of Moving Groups. III. Detecting Moving Groups in The LAMOST DR7

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We revisit the moving groups (MGs) in the solar neighborhood with a sample of 91969 nearby stars constructed from LAMOST DR7. Using the wavelet technique and Monte Carlo simulations, five MGs together with a new candidate located at $V \simeq$ -130 km s$^{-1}$ are detected simultaneously in $V-\sqrt{U^2+2V^2}$ space. Taking into account the other known MGs, we conclude that MGs in the Galactic disk are spaced by approximately 15 $\sim$ 25 km s$^{-1}$ along $V$ velocity. The origin of detected MGs is analysed through the distributions of [Fe/H]$-$[Mg/Fe] and ages. Our results support attributing the origin to the continuous resonant mechanisms probably induced by the bar or spiral arms of the Milky Way.

  • Extended Tidal Tails of IC 4756 detected by {\it Gaia} EDR3

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We report the discovery of emerged tidal tails around open cluster IC 4756 ($\sim$ 1 Gyr) based on 644 members identified from {\it Gaia} EDR3. Three-dimensional spatial positions, two-dimensional tangential velocities $\left( x, y, z, \kappa \cdot \mu_{\alpha}^{*}/\varpi, \kappa \cdot \mu_{\delta}/\varpi \right)$ are utilized to determine the co-moving member candidates of IC 4756. Using a Bayesian method, we correct the distance for each cluster member. Two tidal tails extend up to 180 pc and display a S-shape in $X^{\prime}Y^{\prime}$ space (Cartesian coordinates focused on cluster center). A clean sequence of our members in Color-Absolute-Magnitude Diagram (CAMD) indicates the coeval population and matches perfectly with the PARSEC isochrone with age from Bossini et al. (2019). Mass segregation is detected in this cluster as well. Finally, we derive the tidal radius and core radius of IC 4756 about $12.13$ pc and $4.33 \pm 0.75$ pc, respectively.

  • Revisit of open clusters UPK 39, UPK 41 and PHOC 39 : a new binary open cluster found

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We investigate the three open clusters near Aquila Rift cloud, named as UPK 39 (\texttt{c1} hereafter), UPK 41 (\texttt{c2} hereafter) in Sim et al. (2019) and PHOC 39 (\texttt{c3} hereafter) in Hunt \& Reffert (2021), respectively. Using photometric passpands, reddening, and extinction from Gaia DR3, we construct the color-absolute-magnitude diagram (CAMD). Using isochrone fits their ages are estimated as $6.3\pm0.9$, $8.1\pm1.4$ and $21.8\pm2.2$ Myr, respectively. Their proper motions and radial velocities, estimated using data from Gaia and LAMOST are very similar. From their orbits, relative distances among them at different times, kinematics, ages, and metallicities, we conclude that \texttt{c1} and \texttt{c2} are primordial binary open cluster, which are likely to have been formed at the same time, and \texttt{c3} may capture \texttt{c1}, \texttt{c2} in the future.

  • A Dwarf Galaxy Debris Stream Associated with Palomar 1 and the Anticenter Stream

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We report the discovery of a new stream (dubbed as Yangtze) detected in $Gaia$ Data Release 3. The stream is at a heliocentric distance of $\sim$ 9.12 kpc and spans nearly 27$\deg$ by 1.9$\deg$ on sky. The colour-magnitude diagram of Yangtze indicates a stellar population of Age $\sim$ 11 Gyr and [M/H] $\sim$ -0.7 dex. It has a number density of about 5.5 stars degree$^{-2}$ along with a surface brightness of $\Sigma_G \simeq$ 34.9 mag arcsec$^{-2}$. The dynamics and metallicity estimate suggest that Yangtze may be closely related to Palomar 1 and the Anticenter stream.

  • A New Cold Stream near the Southern Galactic Pole

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We report the discovery of a cold stream near the southern Galactic pole (dubbed as SGP-S) detected in $Gaia$ Early Data Release 3. The stream is at a heliocentric distance of $\sim$ 9.5 kpc and spans nearly 58$^\circ$ by 0.6$^\circ$ on sky. The colour-magnitude diagram of SGP-S indicates an old and metal-poor (age $\sim$ 12 Gyr, [M/H] $\sim$ -2.0 dex) stellar population. The stream's surface brightness reaches an exceedingly low level of $\Sigma_G \simeq$ 36.2 mag arcsec$^{-2}$. Neither extant globular clusters nor other known streams are associated with SGP-S.

  • A Dwarf Galaxy Debris Stream Associated with Palomar 1 and the Anticenter Stream

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We report the discovery of a new stream (dubbed as Yangtze) detected in $Gaia$ Data Release 3. The stream is at a heliocentric distance of $\sim$ 9.12 kpc and spans nearly 27$\deg$ by 1.9$\deg$ on sky. The colour-magnitude diagram of Yangtze indicates a stellar population of Age $\sim$ 11 Gyr and [M/H] $\sim$ -0.7 dex. It has a number density of about 5.5 stars degree$^{-2}$ along with a surface brightness of $\Sigma_G \simeq$ 34.9 mag arcsec$^{-2}$. The dynamics and metallicity estimate suggest that Yangtze may be closely related to Palomar 1 and the Anticenter stream.

  • White dwarfs identified in LAMOST Data Release 5

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: In this paper, we report white dwarfs identified in the 5th Data Release of the Large Area Multi-Object fibre Spectroscopic Telescope, including spectral types of DA, DB, DC, DZ, and so on. There are 2 625 DA spectra of 2 281 DA stars, 182 DB spectra of 166 DB stars, 62 DC spectra of 58 DC stars, 36 DZ spectra of 33 DZ stars and many other types identified, in addition to our previous paper (Data Release 2). Among those sources, 393 DA stars and 46 DB stars are new identifications after cross-matching with the literature. In order to select DA candidates, we use the classification result from the LAMOST pipeline, colour-colour cut method and a random forest machine learning method. For DBs, since there is no template for DB in the pipeline model, a random forest machine learning method is chosen to select candidates. All the WD candidates have been visually checked individually. The parameters of effective temperature, surface gravity, mass, and cooling age have been estimated for relatively high signal-to-noise ratio DAs and DBs. The peaks of the DA and DB mass distributions are found to be around 0.62Msun and 0.65Msun, respectively. Finally, the data and method we used to select white dwarf candidates for the second phase of LAMOST survey are also addressed in this paper.

  • Existence of Tidal Tails for the Globular Cluster NGC 5824

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Context. Several dynamically cold streams have been associated with certain globular clusters (GCs) based on orbital energies and angular momenta. Some of these streams are surprisingly far apart from their progenitors and one such pair is Triangulum and NGC 5824. Triangulum can be considered as a piece of NGC 5824 leading tail since the cluster's future orbit matches with the stream's track well. The existence of the leading tail for NGC 5824 is the motivation behind the search for its trailing tail. Aims. Our goal is to confirm the connection between Triangulum and NGC 5824 and seek the trailing tail of the cluster. Methods. The selection of member stars of Triangulum is made through various cuts in metallicity, proper motions (PMs), radial velocity and color-magnitude diagram (CMD). The selected members are compared in phase space to a mock stream which models the disruption of NGC 5824. We then try to detect the trailing tail of the cluster based on a modified matched-filter technique. Stars are assigned weights using their color differences from the cluster's locus in CMD. These weights are further scaled based on stars' departures from expected PMs of the model stream. Results. A total of 26 member stars for Triangulum are obtained and 16 of them are newly identified. These members are consistent with the mock stream in the phase space and their metalicity and position on the CMD are in good agreements with NGC 5824. By applying the matched-filter, a tenuous trailing tail of the cluster is detected, spanning $\sim$ 50$^\circ$ long on sky. The signature matches with the mock stream's trajectory well. Conclusions. Our results support that Triangulum stream acts as a part of the leading tail for NGC 5824. On the trailing side, we have detected a 50$^\circ$ tail extended from the cluster. The existence of both leading and trailing tails for the GC NGC 5824 is verified.

  • Revisit NGC 5466 Tidal Stream with $Gaia$, SDSS/SEGUE and LAMOST

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: By mining the data from $Gaia$ EDR3, SDSS/SEGUE DR16 and LAMOST DR8, 11 member stars of the NGC 5466 tidal stream are detected and 7 of them are newly identified. To reject contaminators, a variety of cuts are applied in sky position, color-magnitude diagram, metallicity, proper motion and radial velocity. We compare our data to a mock stream generated by modeling the cluster's disruption under a smooth Galactic potential plus the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The concordant trends in phase-space between the model and observations imply that the stream might have been perturbed by LMC. The two most distant stars among 11 detected members trace the stream's length to $60^\circ$ of sky, supporting and extending the previous length of $45^\circ$. Given that NGC 5466 is so distant and potentially has a longer tail than previously thought, we expect that NGC 5466 tidal stream could be a useful tool in constraining the Milky Way gravitational field.