Open AccessEvidence of Early-stage Tidal Structures of Open Clusters Revealed by Kinematics with Gaia EDR3
Author(s) -
Yezhang Li,
Xiaoying Pang,
Shih-Yun Tang
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
research notes of the aas
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2515-5172
DOI - 10.3847/2515-5172/ac1688
Subject(s) - pleiades , open cluster , physics , kinematics , astrophysics , cluster (spacecraft) , radius , astronomy , geology , geodesy , classical mechanics , stars , computer science , computer security , programming language
Blanco 1, a 100 Myr open cluster in the solar neighborhood, is well known for its two 50 pc long tidal tails. Taking Blanco 1 as a reference, we find evidence of early-stage tidal disruption in two other open clusters of ∼120 Myr: the Pleiades and NGC 2516, via Gaia EDR3 data. These two clusters have a total mass of 2–6 times that of Blanco 1. Despite having a similar age as Blanco 1, the Pleiades and NGC 2516 have a larger fraction of their members bound: 86% of their mass is inside the tidal radius, versus 63% for Blanco 1. However, a correlation between Blanco 1's 50 pc long tidal tails and the “kinematic tails” in velocity space is also found for the Pleiades and NGC 2516. This evidence supports the idea that the modest elongation seen in the spatial distribution for the Pleiades and NGC 2516 is a result of early-stage tidal disruption.