Indian astronomers detect dozens of variable stars in the NGC 381 region

Tomasz Nowakowski is a member of the physics.org community.

There are 57 variable stars in the field of the open cluster. There was a paper published on the arXiv preprint server.

A group of stars are bound to each other by a giant cloud of atoms. More than a thousand of them have been found in the Milky Way, and scientists are still looking for more. Our understanding of the formation and evolution of our galaxy could be improved if we expanded the list of known OCs.

Important hints into aspects of stellar structure and evolution could be offered by detecting and studying variable stars. It would be helpful to know the distance scale of the universe.

Located some 3,700 light years away in the constellation of Cassiopeia, there is a sparse open cluster with a mass of about 32.4 solar. There have been several studies of the variable stars content of NGC 381.

The first variability study of NGC 381 and its surroundings was led by Jayanand Maurya. The Devasthal Fast Optical Telescope was used for this purpose.

The open cluster region was extensively observed for the study. The region was observed using a 1.3-m telescope with a large field of view and a 2k2k CCD. The data was collected on 27 nights over a one-year period.

Five of the periodic variable stars identified by the team were cluster members. The shape of the light curves, period, and amplitude were used by the astronomer to classify these variables.

Eight of the W U Ma type and two of the Algol type are eclipsing binaries. There are 15 rotating stars and two pulsating variables in the sample.

The researchers dubbed the rest of the variables "miscellaneous type variables." In order to understand these variables, more time-series data and a spectroscopic study are needed.

Jayanand Maurya and his team are investigating stellar variability in the open cluster. There is a book titled "arxiv.2212.09386."

Journal information: arXiv

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