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REINVESTIGATING THE CLUSTERS KOPOSOV 1 AND 2

Authors :
Gerard T. van Belle
N. E. Q. Paust
Danielle Wilson
Source :
The Astronomical Journal. 148:19
Publication Year :
2014
Publisher :
American Astronomical Society, 2014.

Abstract

We investigate the fundamental parameters of age, distance, and mass function slope for the poorly studied clusters Koposov 1 and Koposov 2. These clusters were discovered recently and tentatively classified as globular clusters. Using the Large Monolithic Imager on Lowell Observatory's Discovery Channel Telescope, we present photometry extending to V = 25, three to four magnitudes below the main sequence turnoffs for the clusters. We find the clusters have tidal radii of 15 pc and 10.7 pc and distances of 34.9 kpc and 33.3 kpc for Koposov 1 and Koposov 2, respectively. Studying the stellar content of the clusters, we use completeness-corrected star counts to reveal extremely faint total magnitudes of 2.01 and 0.03 in V, and steep Salpeter-like present-day mass functions. Finally, we show that the spatial positions of the clusters agree well with the position of the Sagittarius stream and conclude that these two objects are open clusters removed from the Sagittarius galaxy.

Details

ISSN :
15383881 and 00046256
Volume :
148
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
The Astronomical Journal
Accession number :
edsair.doi...........7588c2501019dc871060fa4fa5e490f6