An investigation of open clusters Berkeley 68 and Stock 20 using CCD UBV and Gaia DR3 data

TL;DR

This study combines ground-based UBV photometry with Gaia DR3 data to analyze the properties, dynamics, and Galactic orbit of open clusters Berkeley 68 and Stock 20, providing new insights into their ages, metallicities, and evolutionary states.

Contribution

It offers a comprehensive photometric and astrometric analysis of Berkeley 68 and Stock 20, including their ages, metallicities, mass functions, and Galactic orbits, using combined ground and space data for the first time.

Findings

Berkeley 68 is approximately 2.4 Gyr old and 3000 pc away.

Stock 20 is about 50 Myr old and located roughly 2900 pc from the Sun.

Both clusters are dynamically relaxed with mass function slopes compatible with Salpeter.

Abstract

We performed detailed photometric and astrometric analyses of the open star clusters Berkeley 68 and Stock 20. This was based on ground-based CCD UBV photometric data complemented by space-based Gaia Data Release 3 photometry and astrometry. 198 stars were identified as likely cluster members for Berkeley 68 and 51 for Stock 20. Two-color diagrams were used to derive the reddening and photometric metallicity for each cluster. The reddening for Berkeley 68 is $E(B-V)=0.520 \pm 0.032$ and $0.400 \pm 0.048$ mag for Stock 20. Photometric metallicity [Fe/H] is $-0.13 \pm 0.08$ dex for Berkeley 68, and $-0.01 \pm 0.06$ dex for Stock 20. Keeping as constant reddening and metallicity, we determined the distance moduli and ages of the clusters through fitting isochrones to the UBV and Gaia based color-magnitude diagrams. Photometric distances are $d=3003 \pm 165$ pc for Berkeley 69 and $2911 \pm 216$ pc for Stock 20. The cluster ages are $2.4 \pm 0.2$ Gyr and $50 \pm 10$ Myr for Berkeley 68 and Stock 20, respectively. Present-day mass function slopes were found to be $\Gamma = 1.38 \pm 0.71$ and $\Gamma = 1.53 \pm 0.39$ for Berkeley 68 and Stock 20, respectively. These values are compatible with the value of Salpeter (1955). The relaxation times were estimated as 32.55 Myr and 23.17 Myr for Berkeley 68 and Stock 20, respectively. These times are less than the estimated cluster ages, indicating that both clusters are dynamically relaxed. Orbit integration was carried out only for Berkeley 68 since radial velocity data was not available for Stock 20. Analysis indicated that Berkeley 68 was born outside the solar circle and belongs to the thin-disc component of the Milky Way.