Direct N-Body Modeling of the Old Open Cluster NGC 188: A Detailed Comparison of Theoretical and Observed Binary Star and Blue Straggler Populations

TL;DR

This study uses detailed N-body simulations guided by observations of young clusters to model the evolution of NGC 188, successfully matching some properties but highlighting areas for improvement in binary and blue straggler populations.

Contribution

The paper presents a sophisticated N-body model of NGC 188 that incorporates observed binary properties from a young cluster to improve initial conditions and compares the results with actual observations.

Findings

Model matches observed binary frequency and orbital distributions.

Model underproduces blue stragglers compared to NGC 188.

Overproduces long-period circular main-sequence--white-dwarf binaries.

Abstract

(Abridged) Following on from a recently completed radial-velocity survey of the old (7 Gyr) open cluster NGC 188 in which we study in detail the solar-type hard binaries and blue stragglers of the cluster, here we investigate the dynamical evolution of NGC 188 through a sophisticated N-body model. We employ the observed binary properties of the young (150 Myr) open cluster M35, where possible, to guide our choices for parameters of the initial binary population. At 7 Gyr the main-sequence solar-type hard-binary population in the model matches that of NGC 188 in both binary frequency and distributions of orbital parameters. This agreement between the model and observations is in a large part due to the similarities between the NGC 188 and M35 solar-type binaries. Indeed, among the 7 Gyr main-sequence binaries in the model, only those with P>1000 days show potentially observable evidence for modifications by dynamical encounters. This emphasizes the importance of defining accurate initial conditions for star cluster models, which we propose is best accomplished through comparisons with observations of young open clusters like M35. Furthermore, this suggests that observations of the present-day binaries in even old open clusters can provide valuable information on their primordial binary populations. However, despite the model's successes at matching the true cluster, the model underproduces blue stragglers and produces an overabundance of long-period circular main-sequence--white-dwarf binaries as compared to NGC 188. We conclude that improvements in the physics of mass transfer and common envelope may in fact solve both discrepancies with the observations. This project highlights the unique accessibility of open clusters to both comprehensive observational surveys and full-scale N-body simulations, and underscores the importance of open clusters to the study of star cluster dynamics.