Radial Velocities and Kinematic Membership in the Open Cluster NGC 3114

GONZALEZ, J. F.; LAPASSET, E.

ASTRONOMICAL JOURNAL

Americal Astronomical Society - IOP

Año: 2001 vol. 121 p. 2657 - 2663

0004-6256

Echelle spectroscopic observations for 30 bright stars in the field of the sparse open cluster NGC 3114 are presented. The sample includes main-sequence stars, yellow and red giants, and blue straggler candidates. Radial velocities are derived by cross-correlations using high signal-to-noise ratio standard spectra as templates. The cluster mean velocity is well defined from eight giants and several main-sequence stars whose average is <RV>=-3.52+/-0.25 km s-1. The membership probabilities of the observed stars are computed on the basis of the velocity distributions of the cluster and field stars, and the expected percentage of contamination at each position. We classified 19 cluster members and 10 nonmembers; the remaining star is a known spectroscopic binary for which no membership probability was assigned. Among the members, there is a bright yellow giant, seven red giants, and four blue straggler candidates, although they should be considered as turn-off stars. The location of two of them in the color-magnitude diagram (slightly blueward of the turn-off) can be explained by their low rotational velocities. No velocity variations were detected in the 16 stars measured more than once, which indicates that NGC 3114 possess an abnormally low binary frequency. From spectral types of cluster members, a distance modulus (V-Mv)=9.8+/-0.2 mag and a reddening E(B-V)=0.07+/-0.01 mag are derived. The cluster age is estimated to be 1.6×108 yr. The observations presented here were obtained at the Complejo Astronómico El Leoncito (CASLEO), which is operated under agreement between the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de la República Argentina (CONICET) and the National Universities of La Plata, Córdoba and San Juan.