NGC 2571: An intermediate-age open cluster with a White Dwarf candidate

E.E. GIORGI; R.A VÁZQUEZ; G. BAUME; W. SEGGEWISS; J.-M. WILL

ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS. SUPPLEMENT SERIES (PRINT)

ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS

Año: 2002 p. 884 - 893

0365-0138

CCD UBVI imaging photometry was carried out in the field of the open cluster NGC 2571. From the analysis of our data we state the cluster is at a distance of 1380 +/- 130 pc and its age is 50 +/- 10 x 106 yr. The cluster mass function has a slope larger than a typical Salpeter´s law. There are two notorious features in NGC 2571: the cluster contains a high proportion of stars located below the reference line that are serious candidates to be metallic line stars (probably Am-Fm), and shows also a sharp gap along its main sequence that cannot be explained by a random process nor by a biased rejection of cluster members. A striking blue object was detected in the cluster field that could be a white dwarf candidate.