Cluster Membership Probability: Polarimetric Approach

TL;DR

This paper introduces a polarimetric method to estimate star cluster membership probabilities, comparing it with proper-motion data, and discusses its potential and limitations based on interstellar dust effects.

Contribution

The study presents a novel polarimetric approach for determining star cluster membership probabilities, complementing traditional proper-motion methods.

Findings

Polarimetric membership probabilities agree with proper-motion for members.

Disagreements occur for non-members due to different underlying methods.

The method's effectiveness depends on additional polarimetric and photometric data.

Abstract

Interstellar polarimetric data of the six open clusters Hogg 15, NGC 6611, NGC 5606, NGC 6231, NGC 5749 and NGC 6250 have been used to estimate the membership probability for the stars within them. For proper-motion member stars, the membership probability estimated using the polarimetric data is in good agreement with the proper-motion cluster membership probability. However, for proper-motion non-member stars, the membership probability estimated by the polarimetric method is in total disagreement with the proper-motion cluster membership probability. The inconsistencies in the determined memberships may be because of the fundamental differences between the two methods of determination: one is based on stellar proper-motion in space and the other is based on selective extinction of the stellar output by the asymmetric aligned dust grains present in the interstellar medium. The results and analysis suggest that the scatter of the Stokes vectors q(%) and u(%) for the proper-motion member stars depends on the interstellar and intra-cluster differential reddening in the open cluster. It is found that this method could be used to estimate the cluster membership probability if we have additional polarimetric and photometric information for a star to identify it as a probable member/non-member of a particular cluster, such as the maximum wavelength value (\lambda_max), the unit weight error of the fit (\sigma_1), the dispersion in the polarimetric position angles (\epsilon), reddening (E(B-V)) or the differential intra-cluster reddening (\Delta E(B-V)). This method could also be used to estimate the membership probability of known member stars having no membership probability as well as to resolve disagreements about membership among different proper-motion surveys.