Open clusters in the Kepler field. II. NGC 6866
- Astronomy Department, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215 (United States)
- Leibniz-Institute for Astrophysics, Potsdam (Germany)
- Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
We have developed a maximum-likelihood procedure to fit theoretical isochrones to the observed cluster color-magnitude diagrams of NGC 6866, an open cluster in the Kepler spacecraft field of view. The Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm permits exploration of the entire parameter space of a set of isochrones to find both the best solution and the statistical uncertainties. For clusters in the age range of NGC 6866 with few, if any, red giant members, a purely photometric determination of the cluster properties is not well-constrained. Nevertheless, based on our UBVRI photometry alone, we have derived the distance, reddening, age, and metallicity of the cluster and established estimates for the binary nature and membership probability of individual stars. We derive the following values for the cluster properties: (m – M) {sub V} = 10.98 ± 0.24, E(B – V) = 0.16 ± 0.04 (so the distance = 1250 pc), age =705 ± 170 Myr, and Z = 0.014 ± 0.005.
- OSTI ID:
- 22340239
- Journal Information:
- Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online), Vol. 147, Issue 6; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1538-3881
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
A uvbyCaHβ analysis of the old open cluster, NGC 6819
Photometric and proper motion study of the neglected open cluster NGC 2215