The Seven Sisters DANCe. I. Empirical isochrones, Luminosity and Mass Functions of the Pleiades cluster

TL;DR

This paper presents the most comprehensive and precise census of the Pleiades cluster, deriving its luminosity and mass functions from a large dataset of over 2 million sources, including 812 new members.

Contribution

It provides the most extensive and accurate census of the Pleiades, with new members identified and detailed luminosity and mass functions derived from high-quality data.

Findings

Identified 2109 high probability members, including 812 new ones.

Derived the most precise luminosity and mass functions for the Pleiades.

Extended the mass function down to approximately 0.025 solar masses.

Abstract

The DANCe survey provides photometric and astrometric (position and proper motion) measurements for approximately 2 millions unique sources in a region encompassing $\approx$80deg$^{2}$ centered around the Pleiades cluster. We aim at deriving a complete census of the Pleiades, and measure the mass and luminosity function of the cluster. Using the probabilistic selection method described in Sarro+2014, we identify high probability members in the DANCe ($i\ge$14mag) and Tycho-2 ($V\lesssim$12mag) catalogues, and study the properties of the cluster over the corresponding luminosity range. We find a total of 2109 high probability members, of which 812 are new, making it the most extensive and complete census of the cluster to date. The luminosity and mass functions of the cluster are computed from the most massive members down to $\approx$0.025M$_{\odot}$. The size, sensitivity and quality of the sample result in the most precise luminosity and mass functions observed to date for a cluster. Our census supersedes previous studies of the Pleiades cluster populations, both in terms of sensitivity and accuracy.