Blue straggler stars in Galactic open clusters and the effect of field star contamination

Context. We investigate the distribution of blue straggler stars in the field of three open star clusters. Aims. The main purpose is to highlight the crucial role played by general Galactic disk fore-/back-ground field stars, which are often located in the same region of the color magnitude diagram...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Carraro, G., Vázquez, Rubén Ángel, Moitinho, A.
Formato: Articulo
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2008
Materias:
Acceso en línea:http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/84256
Aporte de:
id I19-R120-10915-84256
record_format dspace
institution Universidad Nacional de La Plata
institution_str I-19
repository_str R-120
collection SEDICI (UNLP)
language Inglés
topic Ciencias Astronómicas
Galaxy: disk
Galaxy: open clusters and associations: general
Stars: blue stragglers
spellingShingle Ciencias Astronómicas
Galaxy: disk
Galaxy: open clusters and associations: general
Stars: blue stragglers
Carraro, G.
Vázquez, Rubén Ángel
Moitinho, A.
Blue straggler stars in Galactic open clusters and the effect of field star contamination
topic_facet Ciencias Astronómicas
Galaxy: disk
Galaxy: open clusters and associations: general
Stars: blue stragglers
description Context. We investigate the distribution of blue straggler stars in the field of three open star clusters. Aims. The main purpose is to highlight the crucial role played by general Galactic disk fore-/back-ground field stars, which are often located in the same region of the color magnitude diagram as blue straggler stars. Methods. We analyze photometry taken from the literature of 3 open clusters of intermediate/old age rich in blue straggler stars, which are projected in the direction of the Perseus arm, and study their spatial distribution and the color magnitude diagram. Results. As expected, we find that a large portion of the blue straggler population in these clusters are simply young field stars belonging to the spiral arm. This result has important consequences on the theories of the formation and statistics of blue straggler stars in different population environments: open clusters, globular clusters, or dwarf galaxies. Conclusions. As previously emphasized by many authors, a detailed membership analysis is mandatory before comparing the blue straggler population in star clusters to theoretical models. Moreover, these sequences of young field stars (blue plumes) are potentially powerful tracers of Galactic structure and they require further consideration.
format Articulo
Articulo
author Carraro, G.
Vázquez, Rubén Ángel
Moitinho, A.
author_facet Carraro, G.
Vázquez, Rubén Ángel
Moitinho, A.
author_sort Carraro, G.
title Blue straggler stars in Galactic open clusters and the effect of field star contamination
title_short Blue straggler stars in Galactic open clusters and the effect of field star contamination
title_full Blue straggler stars in Galactic open clusters and the effect of field star contamination
title_fullStr Blue straggler stars in Galactic open clusters and the effect of field star contamination
title_full_unstemmed Blue straggler stars in Galactic open clusters and the effect of field star contamination
title_sort blue straggler stars in galactic open clusters and the effect of field star contamination
publishDate 2008
url http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/84256
work_keys_str_mv AT carrarog bluestragglerstarsingalacticopenclustersandtheeffectoffieldstarcontamination
AT vazquezrubenangel bluestragglerstarsingalacticopenclustersandtheeffectoffieldstarcontamination
AT moitinhoa bluestragglerstarsingalacticopenclustersandtheeffectoffieldstarcontamination
bdutipo_str Repositorios
_version_ 1764820488534622213