Assessment of evolutionary status of eclipsing binaries using light-curve parameters and spectral classification

We have developed a procedure for the classification of eclipsing binaries from their light-curve parameters and spectral type. The procedure was tested on more than 1000 systems with known classification, and its efficiency was estimated for every evolutionary status we use. The procedure was applied to about 4700 binaries with no classification, and the vast majority of them was classified successfully. Systems of relatively rare evolutionary classes were detected in that process, as well as systems with unusual and/or contradictory parameters. Also, for 50 previously unclassified cluster binaries evolutionary classes were identified. These stars can serve as tracers for age and distance estimation of their parent stellar systems. The procedure proved itself as fast, flexible and effective enough to be applied to large ground based and space born surveys, containing tens of thousands of eclipsing binaries.Comment: 12 pages, 6 tables, 2 figures, 3 appendixe

New atlas of open star clusters

Due to numerous new discoveries of open star clusters in the last two decades, astronomers need an easy-touse resource to get visual information on the relative position of clusters in the sky. Therefore we propose a new atlas of open star clusters. It is based on a table compiled from the largest modern cluster catalogues. The atlas shows the positions and sizes of 3291 clusters and associations, and consists of two parts. The first contains 108 maps of 12 by 12 degrees with an overlapping of 2 degrees in three strips along the Galactic equator. The second one is an online web application, which shows a square field of an arbitrary size, either in equatorial coordinates or in galactic coordinates by request. The atlas is proposed for the sampling of clusters and cluster stars for further investigation. Another use is the identification of clusters among overdensities in stellar density maps or among stellar groups in images of the sky