Issue |
A&A
Volume 402, Number 2, May I 2003
|
|
---|---|---|
Page(s) | 549 - 564 | |
Section | Galactic structure, stellar clusters, and populations | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20030223 | |
Published online | 14 April 2003 |
Photometric study of the young open cluster NGC 3293 *,**
1
Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas de la UNLP, IALP-CONICET, Paseo del Bosque s/n, 1900 La Plata, Argentina
2
Dipartimento di Astronomia, Università di Padova, Vicolo Osservatorio 2, 35122 Padova, Italy
Corresponding author: G. Baume, gbaume@fcaglp.fcaglp.unlp.edu.ar
Received:
27
September
2002
Accepted:
17
January
2003
Deep and extensive CCD photometric observations at were
carried out in the area of the open cluster NGC 3293. The new data set allows
to see the entire cluster sequence down to
, revealing that
stars with
are evolving off the main sequence; stars with
are located on the main sequence and stars with
are
placed above it. According to our analysis, the cluster distance is
±
(
±
0.2) and its nuclear age is
8 ±
1 Myr. NGC 3293 contains an important fraction of pre–main sequence
(PMS) stars distributed along a parallel band to the ZAMS with masses from 1
to
and a mean contraction age of 10 Myr. This last value
does not differ too much from the nuclear age estimate. If we take
into account the many factors that may affect the PMS star positions on the
colour–magnitude diagram, both ages can be perfectly reconciled. The star
formation rate, on the other hand, suggests that NGC 3293 stars formed surely
in one single event, therefore favouring a coeval process of star formation.
Using the
data, we detected nineteen stars with signs of
emission in the region of NGC 3293, another
indication that the star formation process is still active in the region. The
computed initial mass function for the cluster has a slope of
, a bit flatter than the typical slope for field stars and similar to the
values found for other young open clusters.
Key words: Galaxy: open clusters and associations: individual: NGC 3293 / stars: imaging / stars: luminosity function, mass function
© ESO, 2003
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