A Blind All-sky Search for Star Clusters in Gaia EDR3: 886 Clusters within 1.2 kpc of the Sun

• Published in: The Astrophysical journal. Supplement series Vol. 262; no. 1; pp. 7 - 22
• Main Authors: He, Zhihong, Wang, Kun, Luo, Yangping, Li, Jing, Liu, Xiaochen, Jiang, Qingquan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Saskatoon The American Astronomical Society 01.09.2022; IOP Publishing
• Subjects: Astrometry; Latitude; Open star clusters; Parameters; Physical properties; Solar neighborhood; Star clusters
• ISSN: 0067-0049; 1538-4365; 1538-4365
• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4365/ac7c17

Although previous searches for star clusters have been very successful, many clusters are likely still omitted, especially at high-Galactic-latitude regions. In this work, based on the astrometry of Gaia EDR3, we searched nearby ( ϖ > 0.8 mas) all-sky regions, obtaining 886 star clusters, of which 270 candidates have not been cataloged before. At the same time, we have presented the physical parameters of the clusters by fitting theoretical isochrones to their optical magnitudes. More halo members and expanding structures in many star clusters were also found. Most of the new objects are young clusters that are less than 100 million years old. Our work greatly increased the sample size and physical parameters of star clusters in the solar neighborhood, in particular, 46 clusters are newly found with ∣ b ∣ > 20°, which represents a nearly threefold increase in the number of clusters at high-Galactic-latitude regions.