Related papers: Main-sequence fitting and the Hipparcos open clust…
Parallax data from the Hipparcos mission allow the direct distance to open clusters to be compared with the distance inferred from main sequence (MS) fitting. There are surprising differences between the two distance measurements, which…
We present new BVRI photometry for a sample of 54 local G and K stars with accurate Hipparcos parallaxes in the metallicity range -0.4 < [Fe/H] < +0.3. We use this sample to develop a completely model-independent main sequence (MS) fitting…
We discuss the different biases affecting the sample of field subdwarfs selected from the Hipparcos Catalogue, and used in the Main Sequence Fitting technique to derive distances to Galactic Globular Clusters. The adopted average…
In the context of the luminosity calibration of the nearer stars I discuss the Hipparcos results on distances to nearby OB associations and open clusters. The shortcomings and assumptions in the analyses used to derive these results are…
We have combined existing optical magnitudes for stars in seven open clusters and 54 field stars with the corresponding JHKs photometry from the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS). Combining optical with near-IR photometry broadens the color…
We present further arguments that the Hipparcos parallaxes for some of the clusters and associations represented in the Hipparcos catalog should be used with caution in the study of the Galactic structure. It has been already shown that the…
Hipparcos parallaxes fix distances to individual stars in the Hyades cluster with an accuracy of 6%. We use the Hipparcos (and Tycho-2) proper motions, which have a larger relative precision than the trigonometric parallaxes, to derive ~3…
We use the Main Sequence stars in the LMC cluster NGC 1866 and of Red Clump stars in the local field to obtain two independent estimates of the LMC distance. We apply an empirical Main Sequence-fitting technique based on a large sample of…
New memberships, mean parallaxes and proper motions of all 9 open clusters closer than 300 pc (except the Hyades) and 9 rich clusters between 300 and 500 pc have been computed using Hipparcos data. Precisions, ranging from 0.2 to 0.5 mas…
Hipparcos parallax measurements of stars in the Pleiades notoriously result in a cluster distance of 118 pc; ~10% shorter than the `classical' results of MS-fitting. In an earlier paper we developed a purely empirical MS-fitting method to…
More than two hundred classical cepheids were measured by the Hipparcos astrometric satellite, making possible a geometrical calibration of the cepheid distance scale. However, the large average distance of even the nearest cepheids…
A new reduction of the astrometric data as produced by the Hipparcos mission has been published, claiming that the accuracies for nearly all stars brighter than magnitude $\mathrm{Hp}=8$ are improved, by up to a factor 4, compared to the…
Open clusters are known as excellent tracers of the structure and chemical evolution of the Galactic disk, however, the accuracy and reliability of open cluster parameters is poorly known. In recent years, several studies aimed to present…
We have used main-sequence fitting to calibrate the distances to the globular clusters NGC 6397, M5, NGC 288, M71 and 47 Tucanae, matching the cluster photometry against data for subdwarfs with precise Hipparcos parallax measurements and…
This paper examines the discrepancy between distances to nearby open clusters as determined by parallaxes from Hipparcos compared to traditional main sequence fitting. The biggest difference is seen for the Pleiades, and our hypothesis is…
We show that the errors in the Hipparcos parallaxes towards the Pleiades and the Hyades open clusters are spatially correlated over angular scales of 2 to 3 deg, with an amplitude of up to 2 mas. This correlation is stronger than expected…
We continue our series of papers on open cluster distances with a critical assessment of the accuracy of main-sequence fitting using isochrones that employ empirical corrections to the color-temperature relations. We use four nearby open…
We present a determination of the distance modulus of the globular cluster NGC 5904 (M 5), obtained by means of the subdwarf main-sequence fitting on the (V,V-I) color-magnitude diagram. The subdwarf sample has been selected from the…
We reconsider calibration of statistical distance scales for planetary nebulae, examining precision and systematic error for various distance methods used as well as the scales themselves. A different calibration strategy, one based on…
We continue our series of papers on open cluster distances by comparing multicolor photometry of single stars in the Hyades to theoretical isochrones constructed with various color-temperature relations. After verifying that the isochrone…