Distance to the Hyades Cluster

Marcus Casillas

Abstract

Using IDL we found the distance to Hyades cluster using the average parallax distance

and the convergence point method as well as making a color magnitude diagram for the

cluster. We found that the parallax distance method yielded a distance of 46.5 0.291

parsecs and found 45.5905 pc using the convergence point method. The color

magnitude diagram can be found in figure 2.

Introduction

In Astronomy we have multiple ways of measuring the distance to a cluster of stars.

One way is to use the average parallax. However, this method is only possible with

relatively nearby clusters (like the Hyades). When the cluster is too distant to use

parallax, we can use the convergence point method. The convergence point method

makes use of radial velocity and the proper motion of the stars which can be used to

derive the distance to the cluster if you can find where the cluster converges. The color-

magnitude diagram is a representation of the color of stars within the cluster, using B-V,

and their absolute magnitudes. B-V subtracts the magnitude of green (Visible band)

light from blue light so, the lower a stars B-V the more blue it appears.

Procedure
We first attempted to find the distance to the Hyades cluster using the parallax method.

We were able to do this very quickly by finding the average parallax of all the stars in
1
the cluster then using the equation = to find the distance with p being the average

parallax. Next we found the distance using the convergence point method. To do this

we first plotted the RA and declination of all the stars in the cluster to find its center,

then using the data for each stars proper motion plotted their movements across the

sky. With their motions plotted we could find the mean RA and declination of the

intersections of all of the lines of proper motion to find an mean convergence point. The

distance between this mean convergence point and the center of the cluster was then

used to derive the tangential velocity using = () where lambda is the RA

distance between the center of the cluster and its convergence center. By combining

this with another equation for : = 4.76 ,where mu is the proper motion which we

equated using the average of each stars proper motion given in the data and 4.76 is a

conversion factor, we can derive the equation = to find the distance to Hyades
4.76

cluster. Finally we created our color-magnitude diagram for the cluster. To do this we

first used the distance modulus to convert the magnitudes in the data (which are in

apparent brightness) to absolute magnitude using the distance modulus. Because we

know that the Hyades cluster is more than ten parsecs away we can use the distance

modulus in the form = (5 10 () 5) where V is the apparent magnitude

measured by Hipparcos and d is the distance to the cluster. Then we can simply plot B-

V on the x-axis and absolute brightness on the y.

Data & Analysis

Using the parallax method we found the average the parallax to be 0.0215 0.006273

arcseconds which yields a distance of 46.5 0.291 parsecs.

Fig. 1: Convergence Plot for the Hyades Cluster

In figure one we see the convergence plot that was created which is necessary to find

the distance using the convergence plot. Each stars position is represented by

diamonds with their projected proper motion represented by the adjoining lines the

center of the cluster and the convergence center are represented by the dots at

(65.23,16.86) and (98.24,9.08) respectively. is simply the distance between the centers

and was found to be 33.01. Using the average of our proper motions we found =

0.1175 / plugging these values along with the given value for radial

velocity (39.1 km/s) in the equation given in the equation provides a distance to the

Hyades of 45.5905 pc.

 Fig. 2: Color Magnitude Diagram for the Hyades Cluster

From figure two we see that B-V increases as brightness decreases meaning red stars

are less luminous.

Discussion

Data from the Hipparcos spacecraft launched in the late 80s provides that the distance

to the Hyades Cluster is 46.34 0.27 pc. Given this, our measurement of the distance

using the parallax method appears to have yielded a more accurate measurement. This

is likely due to a higher possibility for error within the process of the convergence point

method such as certain lines not intersecting and giving an imperfect location for the

convergence center and the fact that we know the parallax of each stars accurately

thanks to Hipparcos.

Looking at figure two we can immediately notice that it is almost identical to an H-R

diagram with the high concentration of main sequence stars as magnitude increases
with redness. It also shows outlying red giants (or possibly supergiants) at the top of the

graph, around B-V of 1 with magnitude of about 0. By examining the concentration of

main sequence stars we see that there appears to be more blue stars than red meaning

Hyades is an open cluster made up of younger blue stars.

Conclusion

Using the data from Hipparcos we were able to find the distance to Hyades, our closest

star cluster fairly accurately using two different methods. Although the parallax method

yielded a more accurate result it is important to note that it isnt useful for many, more

distant star clusters, the distances to which can be found using the convergence point

method

Appendix

PRO AS203Lab42

;---------------------------------
; READ IN THE DATA
;---------------------------------

readcol,'C:\Users\Marcus\Downloads\Lab4_Files\Hyades_data.txt',H
IP,RA,DEC,P,PMRA,PMDEC,V,BV,Rv,COMMENT='#'
n = n_elements(RA)

;---------------------------------
; FIND THE PARALLAX DISTANCE
;---------------------------------

pmean=mean(P)
pstd=stddev(P)
d=1/pmean
derr=d*pstd
 ;---------------------------------
; MAKE THE CONVERGENCE PLOT
;---------------------------------

;Find the line along each star's proper motion

slope = PMDEC/PMRA
yIntercept = DEC-slope*RA
xPos = findgen(n)+120 ;If we
want to draw a line on the graph along a star's proper motion in
the sky
yPos = slope*xPos+yIntercept ;we need
two points. One is the RA and Dec of the star and the other is
the point
;at
(120,y) point where y is determined from proper motion

;Plot the first line and set up the plot so it can be

overplotted with everything else
p = plot([RA(0),xpos(0)], [DEC(0),ypos(0)], '-', THICK =
0.5, COLOR = [130,200,255], $
title = 'The Hyades Cluster: Proper Motion and
Convergent Point', $
xtitle = 'Right Ascension (degrees)', xrange =
[20, 120], $
ytitle = 'Declination (degrees)', yrange =
[0,40])
;Plot all the other lines
FOR i = 1, n-1 DO BEGIN
p = plot([RA(i),xpos(i)], [DEC(i),ypos(i)], '-',
THICK = 0.5, COLOR = [130,200,255], /OVERPLOT)
ENDFOR

;Plot the position of the stars

p=plot(RA,DEC,'D',/OVERPLOT)

;Find and plot the cluster center

clusterRACenter = mean(RA)
stdcenter = stddev(RA)
clusterDecCenter = mean(DEC)
p = plot([clusterRACenter], [clusterDecCenter], 'ro ',
/SYM_FILLED, /OVERPLOT)

;Find and plot the convergence point

 ;This array is a 2D array representing the RA and DEC
position of the intersection of every
;line of proper motion for each set of stars.
convergenceCenter = dblarr(n*(n+1)/2, 2)
k = 0
FOR i = 0, n_elements(xPos)-1 DO BEGIN
FOR j = 0, i-1 DO BEGIN
;You must determine a method of calculating
the intersection location of the
;proper motion lines between two stars. The
convergenceCenter(k,0) represents
;the RA location and convergenceCenter(k,1)
represents the Dec location.
convergenceCenter(k,0) = (yIntercept(j)-
yIntercept(i))/(slope(i)-slope(j))
convergenceCenter(k,1) =
slope(i)*convergenceCenter(k,0)+yIntercept(i)
IF convergenceCenter(k,0) gt 120 or
convergenceCenter(k,0) le 80 THEN
convergenceCenter(k,0)=!values.F_NAN
IF convergenceCenter(k,1) gt 20 or
ConvergenceCenter(k,1) le 0 THEN
convergenceCenter(k,1)=!values.F_NAN
k++

ENDFOR
ENDFOR

convergenceCenter = convergenceCenter(0:k-1,*)
convergenceRACenter = mean(convergenceCenter(*,0), /NAN)
ccstd=stddev(convergenceCenter(*,0), /NAN)
convergenceDecCenter = mean(convergenceCenter(*,1), /NAN)
p = plot([convergenceRACenter], [convergenceDecCenter],
'ro ', /SYM_FILLED, /OVERPLOT)

;---------------------------------
; FIND THE CONVERGENCE DISTANCE
;---------------------------------

lambda = clusterRACenter - convergenceRAcenter

lamerr = sqrt(ccstd^2 + stdcenter^2)
properMotion = mean(sqrt((PMDEC^2)+(PMRA^2)))
muerr = stddev(sqrt((PMDEC^2)+(PMRA^2)))
properMotion = properMotion/100
muerr = muerr/100
 convergenceDistance = 39.1 * tan(0.576052133) / (4.74 *
properMotion)
muerr = muerr * 4.74
error = 0.208590111*(cos(0.576052133))
error = 39.1 * error
error = convergenceDistance*sqrt((muerr/(4.74 *
properMotion))^2+(error/(39.1 * tan(0.576052133))^2))

print, error
;---------------------------------
; MAKE THE CMD
;---------------------------------

mag = V - (5*alog10(d)-5)
p = plot(BV,mag,'ro',/SYM_FILLED, $
title='Hyades Color-Magnitude Diagram', $
xtitle = 'B-V (mags)', $
ytitle = '$M_v$ (mags)',yrange = [Max(mag),Min(mag)])

END

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Brandon Harrison for his help leading this lab.