The young open cluster Berkeley 55
Abstract
We present UBV photometry of the highly reddened and poorly studied open cluster Berkeley 55, revealing an important population of B-type stars and several evolved stars of high luminosity. Intermediate resolution far-red spectra of several candidate members confirm the presence of one F-type supergiant and six late supergiants or bright giants. The brightest blue stars are mid-B giants. Spectroscopic and photometric analyses indicate an age 50+-10 Myr. The cluster is located at a distance d~4kpc, consistent with other tracers of the Perseus Arm in this direction. Berkeley 55 is thus a moderately young open cluster with a sizable population of candidate red (super)giant members, which can provide valuable information about the evolution of intermediate-mass stars.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1112.0414,
title = {The young open cluster Berkeley 55},
author = {Ignacio Negueruela and Amparo Marco},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1112.0414},
year = {2013}
}
Comments
Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal. Tables 3, 6 and 7 are published electronically, and only the first few rows are shown here