UKIRT follow-up observations of the old open cluster FSR 0358 (Kirkpatrick 1) |
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| Authors: | D Froebrich H Meusinger C J Davis S Schmeja |
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| Institution: | Centre for Astrophysics and Planetary Science, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NH;Thüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, Sternwarte 5, 07778 Tautenburg, Germany;Joint Astronomy Centre, 660 North A'ohoku Place, University Park, Hilo, Hawaii 96720, USA;Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Institut für Theoretische Astrophysik, Albert-Ueberle-Str. 2, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany |
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| Abstract: | We aim to characterize the properties of the stellar clusters in the Milky Way. Utilising an expectation-maximization method, we determined that the cluster FSR 0358, originally discovered by J.D. Kirkpatrick, is the most likely real cluster amongst the cluster candidates from Froebrich et al. Here, we present new deep high resolution near-infrared imaging of this object obtained with the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT). The analysis of the data reveals that FSR 0358 (Kirkpatrick 1) is a 5 ± 2 Gyr old open cluster in the outer Milky Way. Its age, metallicity of Z = 0.008 and distance from the Galactic Centre of 11.2 kpc are typical for the known old open galactic clusters. So far six of the FSR cluster candidates have been identified as having an age above 5 Gyr. This shows the significance of this catalogue in enhancing our knowledge of the oldest open clusters in the Galaxy. |
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| Keywords: | globular clusters: general open clusters and associations: individual: Kirkpatrick 1 |
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