Precision kinematics and related parameters of the α Persei open cluster

Abstract

A kinematical study of the nearby open cluster α Persei is presented based on the astrometric proper motions and positions in the Tycho-2 catalog and Second USNO CCD Astrographic Catalog (UCAC2). Using the astrometric data and photometry from the Tycho-2 and ground-based catalogs, 139 probable members of the cluster are selected, 18 of them new. By the classical convergent point method, systematic motions of stars inside the cluster and velocity dispersions are estimated. As directly observed, the upper limit on the internal velocity dispersion per coordinate is 1.1 km s^(-1). The actual velocity dispersion is much smaller than that value, since all of it appears to come from the expected errors of the astrometric proper motions. The relative position of the convergent point with respect to the cluster stars yields the "astrometric" radial velocity, which turns out larger by a few km s^(-1) than the mean observed spectroscopic radial velocity. This implies an overall contraction of the cluster. Kinematic parallaxes are computed for each member, and an improved H-R diagram is constructed. An age of 52 Myr is determined by isochrone fitting. The star α Per itself fits an isochrone of this age computed with overshooting from the boundary of the convective zone. The theoretical mass of the star α Per is 6.65 M_⊙. With respect to the common center of mass, half of the higher mass members (earlier than G) are located within a radius of 10.3 pc. The cluster appears to be roughly twice as large, or as sparse, as the Pleiades, retaining nonetheless a similar dynamical coherence. The low rate of binaries is another feature of this cluster, where we find only about 20% of members to be known or suspected spectroscopic, astrometric, or visual binaries or multiple systems. X-ray emitters in the cluster appear to have the same dispersion of internal velocities as the rest of the membership. The cluster is surrounded by an extended, sparse halo of comoving dwarfs, which are found by combining the proper-motion data from UCAC2 with Two Micron All-Sky Survey infrared photometry. Since many of these external stars are outside the tidal radius, the cluster being in an active stage of disintegration or evaporation could be considered. This hypothesis is not supported by the weak compression and the nonmeasurable velocity dispersion found in the kinematic analysis. A search for stars ejected from the α Persei cluster is carried out by tracking a large number of nearby stars 70 Myr back in time and matching their positions with the past location of the cluster. Only one plausible ejection is found prior to 10 Myr ago. The nearby star GJ 82, an active M dwarf with a strong Hα emission, is likely a former member ejected 47 Myr ago at 5 km s^(-1).

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