An investigation of open cluster Melotte 72 using Gaia DR2

TL;DR

This study uses Gaia DR2 data to analyze the open cluster Melotte 72, estimating its fundamental parameters, structure, and dynamical state with high precision.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of Melotte 72's parameters and dynamical state using Gaia DR2 data, which is a novel application for this cluster.

Findings

Distance of 2345±108 pc

Age of 1.0±0.5 Gyr

Radius of 5.0±0.15 arcmin

Abstract

The estimation of the main parameters of star clusters is significant in astrophysical studies. The most important aspect of using the Gaia DR2 survey lies in the positions, parallax, and proper motions of cluster stars with homogeneous photometry that make the membership probability determine with high accuracy. In this respect, depending on Gaia DR2 database, an analysis of the open star cluster Melotte 72 is taking place here. It is located at a distance of 2345+/-108 pc with an age of 1.0+/-0.5 Gyr. In studying the radial density profile, the radius is found to be 5.0+/-0.15 arcmin. The reddening, the luminosity and mass functions, the total mass of the cluster, and the galactic geometrical distances (X_Sun, Y_Sun, Z_Sun), and the distance from the galactic center (R_g ) have been estimated as well. Our study has shown a dynamical relaxation behavior of Melotte 72.