We report the discovery of tidal structures around the intermediate-aged (∼ 700-800 Myr), nearby (∼ 85 pc) star cluster Coma Berenices. The spatial and kinematic grouping of stars is determined with the Gaia DR2 parallax and proper motion data, by a clustering analysis tool, StarGO, to map 5D parameters (X, Y, Z, µ α cos δ, µ δ ) onto a 2D neural network. A leading and a trailing tails, each with an extension of ∼ 50 pc are revealed for the first time around this disrupting star cluster. The cluster members, totaling to ∼ 115 +5 −3 M , are clearly mass segregated, and exhibit a flat mass function with α ∼ 0.79 ± 0.16, in the sense of dN/dm ∝ m −α , where N is the number of member stars and m is stellar mass, in the mass range of m = 0.25-2.51 M . Within the tidal radius of ∼6.9 pc, there are 77 member candidates with an average position, i.e., as the cluster center, of R.A.= 186.8110 deg, and decl.= 25.8112 deg, and an average distance of 85.8 pc. Additional 120 member candidates reside in the tidal structures, i.e., outnumbering those in the cluster core. The expansion of escaping members lead to an anisotropy in the velocity field of the tidal tails. Our analysis also serendipitously uncovers an adjacent stellar group, part of which has been cataloged in the literature. We identify 218 member candidates, 10 times more than previously known. This star group is some 65 pc away from, and ∼ 400 Myr younger than, Coma Ber, but is already at the final stage of disruption.
We identify structures of the young star cluster NGC 2232 in the solar neighborhood (323.0 pc) and a newly discovered star cluster, LP 2439 (289.1 pc). Member candidates are identified using the Gaia DR2 sky position, parallax, and proper-motion data by an unsupervised machine-learning method, StarGO. Member contamination from the Galactic disk is further removed using the color–magnitude diagram. The four identified groups (NGC 2232, LP 2439, and two filamentary structures) of stars are coeval with an age of 25 Myr and were likely formed in the same giant molecular cloud. We correct the distance asymmetry from the parallax error with a Bayesian method. The 3D morphology shows the two spherical distributions of clusters NGC 2232 and LP 2439. Two filamentary structures are spatially and kinematically connected to NGC 2232. Both NGC 2232 and LP 2439 are expanding. The expansion is more significant in LP 2439, generating a loose spatial distribution with shallow volume number and mass density profiles. The expansion is suggested to be mainly driven by gas expulsion. With 73% of the cluster mass bound, NGC 2232 is currently experiencing a process of revirialization, However, LP 2439, with 52% of the cluster mass unbound, may fully dissolve in the near future. The different survivability traces the different dynamical states of NGC 2232 and LP 2439 prior to the onset of gas expulsion. While NGC 2232 may have been substructured and subvirial, LP 2439 may have either been virial/supervirial or experienced a much faster rate of gas removal.
We analyze the 3D morphology and kinematics of 13 open clusters (OCs) located within 500 pc of the Sun, using Gaia EDR 3 and kinematic data from the literature. Members of OCs are identified using the unsupervised machine-learning method StarGO, using five parameters (X, Y, Z, ). The OC sample covers an age range of 25 Myr to 2.65 Gyr. We correct the asymmetric distance distribution that is due to parallax error using Bayesian inversion. The uncertainty in the corrected distance for a cluster at 500 pc is 3.0–6.3 pc, depending on the intrinsic spatial distribution of its members. We determine the 3D morphology of the OCs in our sample and fit the spatial distribution of stars within the tidal radius in each cluster with an ellipsoid model. The shapes of the OCs are well described with oblate spheroids (NGC 2547, NGC 2516, NGC 2451A, NGC 2451B, and NGC 2232), prolate spheroids (IC 2602, IC 4665, NGC 2422, Blanco 1, and Coma Berenices), or triaxial ellipsoids (IC 2391, NGC 6633, and NGC 6774). The semimajor axis of the fitted ellipsoid is parallel to the Galactic plane for most clusters. Elongated filament-like substructures are detected in three young clusters (NGC 2232, NGC 2547, and NGC 2451B), while tidal-tail-like substructures (tidal tails) are found in older clusters (NGC 2516, NGC 6633, NGC 6774, Blanco 1, and Coma Berenices). Most clusters may be supervirial and expanding. N-body models of rapid gas expulsion with a star formation efficiency of ≈1/3 are consistent with clusters more massive than 250 M ⊙, while clusters less massive than 250 M ⊙ tend to agree with adiabatic gas expulsion models. Only five OCs (NGC 2422, NGC 6633, NGC 6774, Blanco 1, and Coma Berenices) show clear signs of mass segregation.
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