Deep, Wide-field CCD Photometry for the Open Cluster NGC 3532

Abstract

We present the results of a deep, wide-field CCD survey for the open cluster NGC 3532. Our new BV(RI) c photometry effectively covers a one square degree area and reaches an unprecedented depth of V ~ 21 to reveal that NGC 3532 is a rich open cluster that harbors a large number of faint, low-mass stars. We employ a number of methods to reduce the impact of field star contamination in the cluster color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs), including supplementing our photometry with JHK_s data from the 2MASS catalog. These efforts allow us to define a robust sample of candidate main-sequence stars suitable for a purely empirical determination of the cluster's parameters by comparing them to the well-established Hyades main sequence. Our results confirm previous findings that NGC 3532 lies fairly near to the Sun [(m – M)_0 = 8.46 ± 0.05; 492^(+12)_(–11) pc] and has an extremely low reddening for its location near the Galactic plane [E(B – V) = 0.028 ± 0.006]. Moreover, an age of ~300 Myr has been derived for the cluster by fitting a set of overshooting isochrones to the well-populated upper main sequence. This new photometry also extends faint enough to reach the cluster white dwarf sequence, as confirmed by our photometric recovery of eight spectroscopically identified members of the cluster. Using the location of these eight members, along with the latest theoretical cooling tracks, we have identified ~30 additional white dwarf stars in the [V, (B – V)] CMD that have a high probability of belonging to NGC 3532. Reassuringly, the age we derive from fitting white dwarf isochrones to the locus of these stars, 300 ± 100 Myr, is consistent with the age derived from the turnoff. Our analysis of the photometry also includes an estimation of the binary star fraction as well as a determination of the cluster's luminosity and mass functions.

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