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Unveiling the binary nature of NGC 2323

Context. As a well-known open cluster, NGC 2323 (also called M50) has been widely investigated for over a hundred years and has always been considered a classical single cluster.Aims. We studied the binary structure nature of NGC 2323 with Gaia Data Release 3 (DR3).Methods. We discovered the binary...

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Main Authors: Qin, Songmei (Author) , Zhong, Jing (Author) , Tang, Tong (Author) , Jiang, Yueyue (Author) , Wang, Long (Author) , Wu, Kai (Author) , Anders, Friedrich (Author) , Balaguer-Núñez, Lola (Author) , Liu, Guimei (Author) , Li, Chunyan (Author) , Hou, Jinliang (Author) , Chen, Li (Author)
Format: Article (Journal)
Language:English
Published: [29 January 2025]
In: Astronomy and astrophysics
Year: 2025, Volume: 693, Pages: A317-1-A317-9
ISSN:1432-0746
DOI:10.1051/0004-6361/202452962
Online Access:Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202452962
Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2025/01/aa52962-24/aa52962-24.html
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Author Notes:Songmei Qin, Jing Zhong, Tong Tang, Yueyue Jiang, Long Wang, Kai Wu, Friedrich Anders, Lola Balaguer-Núñez, Guimei Liu, Chunyan Li, Jinliang Hou, Li Chen
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Summary:Context. As a well-known open cluster, NGC 2323 (also called M50) has been widely investigated for over a hundred years and has always been considered a classical single cluster.Aims. We studied the binary structure nature of NGC 2323 with Gaia Data Release 3 (DR3).Methods. We discovered the binary structure of NGC 2323 by the HDBSCAN algorithm based on the astrometric and photometric data from Gaia DR3. Then we employed the PETAR N-body code to investigate its binary structure origin.Results. We found that NGC 2323 consists of two distinct subclusters (NGC 2323-a and NGC 2323-b) that are still gravitationally bound. They have very close positions (three-dimensional Δpos = 12.3 pc, σΔpos = 3.4 pc) and similar tangential velocities (two-dimensional ΔV = 2.2 km s−1, σΔV = 0.02 km s−1). The best isochrone fitting ages of the two clusters are the same (158 Myr), further proving their possibly common origin. The numerical N-body simulation suggests that the less massive cluster is unlikely to be the cluster tidal tails created by the differential rotation of the Milky Way.
Item Description:Gesehen am 02.10.2025
Physical Description:Online Resource
ISSN:1432-0746
DOI:10.1051/0004-6361/202452962

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