TY - JOUR
T1 - Tidal tails in the disintegrating open cluster NGC 752
AU - Bhattacharya, Souradeep
AU - Agarwal, Manan
AU - Rao, Khushboo K.
AU - Vaidya, Kaushar
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society.
PY - 2021/8/1
Y1 - 2021/8/1
N2 - We utilize the robust membership determination algorithm, ML-MOC, on the precise astrometric and deep photometric data from Gaia Early Data Release 3 within a region of radius 5° around the centre of the intermediate-age Galactic open cluster NGC 752 to identify its member stars. We report the discovery of the tidal tails of NGC 752, extending out to ∼35 pc on either side of its denser central region and following the cluster orbit. From comparison with PARSEC stellar isochrones, we obtain the mass function of the cluster with a slope, χ = -1.26 ± 0.07. The high negative value of χ is indicative of a disintegrating cluster undergoing mass segregation. χ is more negative in the intra-tidal regions as compared to the outskirts of NGC 752. We estimate a present day mass of the cluster, $M\rm _{C} = 297\pm 10$ M⊙. Through mass-loss due to stellar evolution and tidal interactions, we further estimate that NGC 752 has lost nearly 95.2-98.5 per cent of its initial mass, Mi = 0.64-2 × 104 M⊙.
AB - We utilize the robust membership determination algorithm, ML-MOC, on the precise astrometric and deep photometric data from Gaia Early Data Release 3 within a region of radius 5° around the centre of the intermediate-age Galactic open cluster NGC 752 to identify its member stars. We report the discovery of the tidal tails of NGC 752, extending out to ∼35 pc on either side of its denser central region and following the cluster orbit. From comparison with PARSEC stellar isochrones, we obtain the mass function of the cluster with a slope, χ = -1.26 ± 0.07. The high negative value of χ is indicative of a disintegrating cluster undergoing mass segregation. χ is more negative in the intra-tidal regions as compared to the outskirts of NGC 752. We estimate a present day mass of the cluster, $M\rm _{C} = 297\pm 10$ M⊙. Through mass-loss due to stellar evolution and tidal interactions, we further estimate that NGC 752 has lost nearly 95.2-98.5 per cent of its initial mass, Mi = 0.64-2 × 104 M⊙.
KW - methods: data analysis
KW - open clusters and associations: individual: NGC 752
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85115701506&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/mnras/stab1404
DO - 10.1093/mnras/stab1404
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85115701506
SN - 0035-8711
VL - 505
SP - 1607
EP - 1613
JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
IS - 2
ER -