OPEN AND GLOBULAR STAR CLUSTERS

Roberto Bartali

Introduction
In this Essay I explain the characteristic, in general terms and the difference of two
types of stellar clusters: Open and Globular, making sometimes direct reference to a
particular cluster. These groups of stars are located on well determined location in the
Milky Way and was born in different time and are evolved in different way, this
information can be extrapolated plotting star luminosity on Hertzsprung-Russel Diagram
(HR) and also the on Color Magnitude Diagram (CMD). The description of each type of
cluster came in the same structure, so readers can easily compare one to each other; also,
see the difference in the appearance of each cluster types in the sky.

Open clusters
An Open Cluster (OP) is a group containing from a few stars to some thousand stars
joined together by gravitational forces and at relatively great angular distance one from the
other making them easy to resolve with relatively small telescope and even the naked eye.
At first look, stars appear dispersed and without an order, but all share the same motion
toward some place in the sky (Figure 4).
Figure 1
NGC4755 in Crux “Jewel Box
Cluster”

Stars inside OP are moving away from the

mass center of the cluster, due to centrifugal
forces from the center of the Galaxy and due to
perturbation from other objects, so they show a
tendency to desegregate. The rate of
desegregation of an OP is inversely proportional
to its density, because of less gravitational forces
acting over them.

Star density and separation between stars

are very different (Figure 1 and 2). We know
some very dense clusters like M11 (containing
about 80 stars per cubic parsec in the center) and
others like the Big Dipper group whose stars are
many parsec away from each other.

Apparent size of OP varies from 2´ to

more than 330´ like The Hyades in Taurus, and
real sizes in the range from 2 and 50 parsecs. Some of the smallest are NGC6603 in
Sagittarius (4’ apparent diameter) and NGC7092 in Cygnus (2 parsec). Pleiades in Taurus
(Figure 2) and M35 in Geminis are about 100’ in diameter.

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 All OP, with some exception, are orbiting the center of the Galaxy near its
equatorial plane.

Figure 2
M45 Pleiades in Taurus Type “c” open Cluster

We know about one thousand clusters, but

interstellar absorption can occult many more
at greater distance from us.

The nearest OP to us is The Hyades

in Taurus, around the red giant star
Aldebaran, but it is not a component of the
cluster.

Some OP are associated to an emission nebula (a cloud of gas containing atoms

exited by the radiation of nearby stars, like M45, Figure 2) and others are bounded to a
diffuse nebula (a gas cloud where stars are actually in the incubation stage, like M16,
(Figure 3). It seems to be common the presence of an emission nebula in young clusters
with age no more than 200 million years like M45, M6, M16 and NGC6231.
Figure 3
M16 and Eagle Nebula in Serpens We know now that stars born in a nebula by
Type “e” open cluster accretion of the cloud gas and particles so all share the
same chemical composition and we can suppose them of
same age. This is very interesting, because observing the
cluster members we can see stars at different evolution
stage, but this is due only to the mass of each star when it
born (Figures 1).

As all stars came from the same nebula we

suppose them at same distance from us, because distances
between stars are much less than our distance to the
cluster, so the apparent magnitudes are related to absolute
magnitude by a constant.

OP are classified using one of two scheme (10). The Harlow Shapley Scheme uses
the number of stars in the OP as:
• c = very loose and irregular
• d = loose and poor
• e = intermediately rich
• f = fairly rich
• g = considerably rich and concentrated
The R.J.Trumpler Scheme is more complete and descriptive; it uses the
concentration (class), the bright and the number of stars in the OP as:
Concentration

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 • I = Detached; strong concentration toward center
• II = Detached; weak concentration toward center
• III = Detached; no concentration toward center
• IV = Not well detached from surrounding star field
Range in Brightness
• 1 = Small difference
• 2 = Moderate difference
• 3 = Large difference
Richness
• p = Poor: <50 stars
• m = Moderately: 50< stars <100
• r = Rich: >100 stars
If the OP has a nebula associated, there is an “n” following the concentration roman
number.

Figura 4
Relative motion of Hyades

Most of the OP are young, with an average age of

30 to 300 million years old. Some are less than a
million years, one of the youngest is NGC6231 (3.2
million years old), and the oldest are NGC6791,
NGC188 and M67 (7, 5 and 4.5 billion years old
respectively). We can calculate the age of a cluster plotting their stars on an H-R diagram.
The H-R diagram correlates the luminosity with the spectral class of stars, but we know that
the color of the star is a function of the temperature (stars acts like blackbody), the absolute
and the visual magnitude are a function of luminosity and distance. But, also, luminosity
and color are a function of the star mass. The points at which a
Figure 5
H-R diagram of star clusters
star reaches the main sequence (Zero Age Main Sequence)
depend on the mass it has when start nuclear reaction in its
core, and, the time it stay on the main sequence, too. There
is a point (turn off point) where stars leave the main
sequence because they end the burning Hydrogen process.
Younger Clusters has many O and B stars on the main
sequence and, older cluster has many K and M stars on it.
As we see in pictures, younger cluster are white and blue
stars rich, spectral type O and B (Figure 2 and 3); medium
age are filled of orange, yellow and white stars, spectral
type G, F and A (Figure 1); older ones have orange and red
stars, spectral type K and M. Younger clusters contains
stars with metallic elements and older ones are similar to
the Sun, very few metallic elements. Aged clusters
contains

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 Figure 6
UBV Color Magnitude Figure 7
Diagram UBV Color Magnitude Diagram
(old cluster) (young cluster)

also more dwarf stars. The H-R diagram tell us about the age of the cluster; it means the
time when stars leave the main sequence. Figure 5 shows the turn off point on the main
sequence of many clusters plotted together. Figure 6 and 7 shows the CMD of and old OP
and for a young OP. These diagrams are equivalent to the H-R diagram, but correlate the
visual magnitudes (V), and the color index (B-V is a linear function of spectral type)
younger the cluster, lesser de color index value; negative color index represent even
younger clusters.

Normally in OP there are not variable stars (with the exception of eclipse variables,
but they are not physic variables).

Due to relatively spreading of stars in the cluster, it is easy their observation through
small telescopes and binoculars.
TABLE 1
Data and position of most important clusters
Coordinates are for epoch 2000.0

NAME CONST. R.A. DECL.

M45 TAURUS 3h 47m +24° 07’
Mel 25 TAURUS 4h 27m +16° 00’
M44 CANCER 8h 40m +19° 59’
M11 SCUTUM 18h 51m -06° 16’
NGC869 PERSEUS 2h 22m +57° 09’
NGC884 PERSEUS 2h 22m +57° 07’
M35 GEMINI 6h 09m +24° 20’

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My observation of OP:

Figure 9
NGC 869-884 M11
September 1974

Figure 8
M45 Open Cluster
Visual observing
Refractor 60 mm diam. F/6
80X January 1978

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Globular Clusters
Globular Clusters (GC) are beautiful set of stars very closely one to the other likes a
snow ball in the sky.
Figure 10
M3 in Canes Venatici
Globular Clusters (GC) are agglomerations of some
thousand to 1 million stars joined together by
gravitational forces. We know about 150 GC; all belongs
to the Milky Way Galaxy except for one, M54, which is
presumably a member of Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical
Galaxy in the Local Group.

Star density in GC is very high, because the

diameter varies from 20 to 200 light years. Half of GC
known, are located in a particular area of the sky, in
Sagittarius, Scorpius and Ophiuchus, the center of Milky way is also in Sagittarius, as we
are far from galactic center we see the 90% of them toward this constellation; this implies
that they are physically around the galaxy core.

GC are all moving at roughly the same speed of about

100 to 150 Km/s with respect to us, in very eccentric
elliptical orbits. With orbits like these, GC can leave the
Galaxy and really they form a spherical bubble around its
center, their orbital periods are in the range of billion years.

This implies they suffer desegregation due to

encounter of massive zones around galaxy center, tidal forces
and acceleration due to movement and encounters, can act on
peripheral stars and then spread them out; each time they
cross the plane of the galaxy, this gravitational forces and perhaps
Figure 11
M80 in Scorpius closer encounters or collisions, can increase star loosing. The rate
of desegregation of GC is much lesser than of OP because they
Figure 12 are much more massive and denser than OP.
NGC104 in Tucana

Plotting stars on the H-R diagrams and on CMD, it

is clear that they are older than OP, so they have been born
in the first phase of the galaxy life, just after or before; like
stars near the nucleus of the galaxy. The main sequence of
GC denotes the age (Figure 13), because it is very short
and most the stars evolved to giant branch, so only less
massive are still on it. GC seems to be born at the same
time about 12 to 16 billion years ago.

Stars in GC are poor of metallic, or heavy,

elements, normal in older stars. There are very few
interstellar matter inside a GC, so it is impossible to have
star formation in it.

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Figure 13
A typical characteristic of GC is
CMD for M3 Globular Cluster the presence of many variable stars of RR
Lyr and many white dwarfs. Only 4 GC
contains planetary nebulae, this is very
strange because their life is much shorter
than the age of the cluster itself, but it is
extremely difficult to observe such faint
objects, so I think there are much more
than we suspect.
When massive and luminous stars
of GC ends its life on the Main sequence
(stop burning Hydrogen) they reach the
giant branch, so from blue-white, they are
now red. When contraction of the star
toward its core reach a particular density
and temperature (100 millions K), it start
the Helium burning phase. Now GC stars
go backward to the main sequence, after
that phase, stars go to the left of the main
sequence and stay on the horizontal
branch.

Figure 14
CMD for NGC5466 Globular Cluster

TABLE 2
Data and position of some Globular Clusters
Coordinates are for epoch 2000.0

NAME CONST. R.A. DECL.

M3 CANES VEN. 13h 42m +28° 23’
M5 SERPENS 15h 18m +2° 05’
M13 HERCULES 16h 41m +36° 28’
M22 SAGITTARIUS 18h 36m -24° 52’
M55 SAGITTARIUS 19h 40m -30° 58’
M15 PEGASUS 21h 30m +12° 10’
M12 OPHIUCHUS 16h 47m -1° 57’

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My observation globular cluster

Figure 15
M13
Refractor 60 mm diam f/6

Conclusion
This essay I tried to explain in plain text form which is the relationship of stars in clusters
and how those evolved. Studying star clusters we can model the evolution of stars with
different masses born also simultaneously and all in the same field of view. The OP reveals
to us the first half of stellar evolution and GC the other half.

References
1) ALMANACCO ASTRONOMICO COELUM, ed. 1977
2) Cecchini G., IL CIELO VOL Il, UTET, section 5, chapter 1, ed.1969
3) Freedman R., Kaufmann William III, UNIVERSE, Freeman, chapter 20,21,
ed. 2002
4) Hack M., L´ASTRONOMIA, num 11,12, ed.1981
5) Holliday K., INTRODUCTORY ASTRONOMY, chapter 13, ed.1998
6) Kaufmann, William III, STARS AND NEBULAS , Freeman, chapter 5,6,
ed.1978
7) Karttunen H. et al, FUNDAMENTAL ASTRONOMY, Springer, chapter
6,9,17, ed. 2000
8) http://zebu.uoregon.edu/~js/ast122/lectures/lec12.html
9) http://www.allthesky.com/clusters/clusters.html
10) http://www.seds.org/messier/open.html
11) http://homepage.interaccess.com/~purcellm/jewel.htm
12) http://www-astro.phast.umass.edu/~jamesm/cluster.html
13) http://obswww.unige.ch/webda/cgi-bin/ocl_page.cgi?dirname=mel025
14) http://aida.astroinfo.ch/schirmer/NGC6441.jpg.html
15) http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/supp/gc_pn.html
16) http://www.seds.org/messier/more/m022_pn.html
17) http://www.seds.org/messier/glob.html