Detailed analysis of open clusters: A Mass function break and evidence of a fundamental plane
Mar, 2005Citations per year
Abstract: (arXiv)
We derive photometric, structural and dynamical evolution-related parameters of 11 nearby open clusters with ages in the range 70 Myr to 7 Gyr and masses in the range \ms to \ms. We search for relations of structural and evolutionary parameters with age and Galactocentric distance. The main results for the present sample are: {\em (i)} cluster size correlates both with age and Galactocentric distance: {\em (ii)} because of size and mass scaling, core and limiting radii, and core and overall mass correlate: {\em (iii)} massive ( \ms) and less-massive clusters follow separate correlation paths on the plane core radius and overall mass: {\em (iv)} MF slopes of massive clusters are restricted to a narrow range, while those of the less-massive ones distribute over a wider range. Core and overall MF flattening is related to the ratio () of age to relaxation time. For large values of the effects of large-scale mass segregation and low-mass stars evaporation can be observed in the MFs. In this sense, appears to characterize the evolutionary state of the clusters. We conclude that appreciable slope flattenings in the overall MFs of the less-massive clusters take times longer to occur than in the core, while in the massive clusters they take a time times longer. We investigate cluster parameters equivalent to those determining the fundamental plane of ellipticals. These parameters are: overall mass, projected mass density and core radius. We conclude that in the present sample there is evidence of a fundamental plane.- ASSOCIATIONS
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