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(Reference retrieved automatically from Web of Science through information on FAPESP grant and its corresponding number as mentioned in the publication by the authors.)

The OPD photometric survey of open clusters I. Techniques, program details and first results of robust determination of the fundamental parameters

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Author(s):
Caetano, T. C. [1, 2] ; Dias, W. S. [1, 2] ; Lepine, J. R. D. [1] ; Monteiro, H. S. [2] ; Moitinho, A. [3] ; Hickel, G. R. [2] ; Oliveira, A. F. [2]
Total Authors: 7
Affiliation:
[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Astron Geofis & Ciencias Atmosfer, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil
[2] Univ Fed Itajuba, Inst Fis & Quim, Itajuba, MG - Brazil
[3] Univ Lisbon, Fac Ciencias, SIM, P-1749016 Lisbon - Portugal
Total Affiliations: 3
Document type: Journal article
Source: NEW ASTRONOMY; v. 38, p. 31-49, JUL 2015.
Web of Science Citations: 7
Abstract

Open clusters are considered valuable objects for the investigation of galactic structure and dynamics since their distances, ages and velocities can be determined with good precision. According to the New Catalog of Optically Visible Open Clusters and Candidates (Dias et al., 2002) about 10% of the optically revealed open clusters remain unstudied. However, previous analysis (Moitinho, 2010) has indicated that not considering this unstudied population introduces significant biases in the study of the structure and evolution of the Milky Way. In addition, a systematic revision of the data contained in the catalog, collected from the literature, is needed, due to its inhomogeneity. In this first paper of a series, we present the observational strategy, data reduction and analysis procedures of a UBRVI photometric survey of southern open star clusters carried out at Pico dos Dias Observatory (Brazil). The aim of the program is to contribute to an unbiased, homogenous collection of cluster fundamental parameters. We show that the implementation of a sequence of systematic procedures considerably improves the quality of the results. To illustrate the methods we present the first results based on one night of observations. The parameters, reddening, distance, age and metallicity, were obtained by fitting theoretical isochrones to cluster color color and multidimensional color magnitude diagrams, applying a cross-entropy optimization algorithm developed by our group, which takes into account UBVRI photometric data weighted using a membership-likelihood estimation. Published by Elsevier B.V. (AU)

FAPESP's process: 13/01115-6 - A study of the galactic structure by means of open clusters
Grantee:Jacques Raymond Daniel Lépine
Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Visiting Researcher Grant - Brazil