In a recently published paper, researchers have investigated the Melotte 105 open cluster to find out its fundamental properties. According to the researchers, the recently published study provides more accurate measurements of the cluster’s distance, age and metallicity.
In case you didn’t know, open clusters are group of stars loosely gravitationally bound to each other. Researchers have discovered over 1,000 of such clusters in our Galaxy so far and are continuously looking for more clusters. As the clusters are important part of our galaxy, understating the formation and evolution of the clusters are crucial to understand the Milky Way’s formation and evolution.
The group of researchers, led by Timothy Banks of the Nielsen Company, decided to take a look at clusters known as Melotte 105. The cluster is located 7,200 light years away in the Galactic plane. Upon analyzing the data from different satellites around the world, researchers shared their insights on the cluster.
The researchers wrote, “The Gaia Data Release 2 (DR2) and Vilnius photometric data of the cluster were used to estimate the structural parameters of the cluster, probability of stellar membership in the cluster, the distance modulus and the cluster age.”
According the astronomers, the data show that the reddening of Melotte 105 is 0.34 mag. Moreover, the researchers concluded that the cluster is located about 6,774 light years away. The researchers also noted that the cluster is about 240 million years old and has a metallicity (Fe/H) at a level of approximately 0.24.
The researchers noted, “In the near future the Melotte 105 cluster could be studied via high resolution and high S/N spectroscopic observations. The cluster member stars then could be determined using radial velocity analysis, together with the model atmosphere parameters of the member stars and the mean metal abundance being obtained precisely.”