A Search for Variable Stars and Planetary Occultations in NGC 2301 II: Variability

We performed R-band time series observations of the young, metal rich open cluster NGC 2301 for 12 nights in Feb. 2004. B images were also obtained and color magnitude diagrams, having limits of R=19.5 and B=21.5, were produced. Only asmall effort was made to determine cluster membership as our magnitude limits are far deeper than previously published values. Our photometric precision, for the brightest 5 magnitudes of sources, is 1-2 mmag. We determine that for the $\sim$4000 stars which have time-series data, 56% are variable and of these, approximately 13% are observed to exhibit periodic light curves ranging from tens of minutes to days. We present some examples of the light curves obtained and produce cuts in variability space based on parameters such as color and amplitude. The percentage of variability is approximately equal across all colors with the majority of variables having amplitudes of 0.15 magnitudes or less. In general, redder stars show larger variability amplitudes. We find a smooth decline in the number of periodic variables toward longer period. This decline is probably due to a transition from intrinsic to extrinsic variability and, in part, to our limited observing period of 12 nights. Essentially all the A and F main sequence stars in our sample are variable ($\sim$2 mmag and larger) and most present complex light curves containing multiple periods suggestive of their inclusion in the $\delta$Sct and $\gamma$Dor classes. A variable non-cluster member giant and two variable white dwarf candidates are discussed. Our equational description of variability is shown to be an excellent predictive tool for determining the cumulative fraction of variables that will be observed in a photometric survey. Our entire dataset is available electronically.Comment: 25 pages, 21 figures Accepted to PAS

WIYN Open Cluster Study. XIX. Main Sequence Fitting Distances to Open Clusters Using V-K Color-Magnitude Diagrams

We have combined existing optical magnitudes for stars in seven open clusters and 54 field stars with the corresponding JHKs photometry from the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS). Combining optical with near-IR photometry broadens the color baseline minimizing the influence of photometric errors and allows better discrimination between cluster stars and contaminating foreground and background populations. The open clusters in this study include NGC 2516, M35, M34, NGC 3532, M37, M67, and NGC 188. The field stars we are using possess high quality Hipparcos parallaxes and well-determined metal abundances allowing us to empirically determine the dependence of (V-K) color on metal abundance in the range -0.45<=[Fe/H]<=+0.35. Using this relation along with the parallaxes of the field stars, we are able to construct an unevolved main sequence in the [Mv,(V-K)o] diagram for a specific abundance. These diagrams are then used to fit to the cluster main sequences in the [V,V-K] color-magnitude diagram in order to estimate a distance for each open cluster. We find that the resultant distances are within the range of distances found in the literature via the main sequence fitting technique. It is hoped that this will spur an expansion of the current (limited) database of star clusters with high quality (V-K) photometry down to the unevolved main sequence.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, to appear in The Astronomical Journal - February 200