Astrometric and Photometric Study of the Open Cluster NGC 2323

Abstract

We present a study of the open cluster NGC 2323 using astrometric and photometric data. In our study we used two methods that are able to separate open cluster’s stars from those that belong to the stellar background. Our results of calculations by these two methods indicate that: 1) according to the membership probability, NGC 2323 should contain 497 stars, 2) the cluster center should be at 07 02 48 . 02 and -08◦ 20′ 17 . ′′74, 3) the limiting radius of NGC 2323 is 2.31 ± 0.04 pc, the surface number density at this radius is 98.16 stars pc−2, 4) the magnitude function has a maximum at about mv = 14 mag, 5) the total mass of NGC 2323 is estimated dynamically by using astrometric data to be 890 M , and statistically by using photometric data to be 900 M , and 6) the distance and age of the cluster are found to be equal to 900 ± 100 pc, and 140 ± 20 Myr, respectively. Finally the dynamical evolution parameter τ of the cluster is about 436.2.