Title: NGC 6067: a young and massive open cluster with high metallicity Author: J. Alonso-Santiago, I. Negueruela, A. Marco, H. M. Tabernero, C. González-Fernández, N. Castro
NGC 6067 is a young open cluster hosting the largest population of evolved stars among known Milky Way clusters in the 50-150 Ma age range. It thus represents the best laboratory in our Galaxy to constrain the evolutionary tracks of 5-7 solar mass stars. We have used high-resolution spectra of a large sample of bright cluster members (45), combined with archival photometry, to obtain accurate parameters for the cluster as well as stellar atmospheric parameters. We derive a distance of 1.78±0.12 kpc, an age of 90±20 Ma and a tidal radius of 14.8^{6.8}_{3.2} arcmin. We estimate an initial mass above 5700 solar masses, for a present-day evolved population of two Cepheids, two A supergiants and 12 red giants with masses \approx 6 solar masses. We also determine chemical abundances of Li, O, Na, Mg, Si, Ca, Ti, Ni, Rb, Y and Ba for the red clump stars. We find a supersolar metallicity, [Fe/H]=+0.19±0.05, and a homogeneus chemical composition, consistent with the Galactic metallicity gradient. The presence of a Li-rich red giant, star 276 with A(Li)=2.41, is also detected. An over-abundance of Ba is found, supporting the enhanced s-process. The ratio of yellow to red giants is much smaller than one, in agreement with models with moderate overshooting, but the properties of the cluster Cepheids do not seem consistent with current Padova models for supersolar metallicity.
NGC 6067 (also Mel 140, Cr 298, OCL 953, and ESO 178-SC12) is a magnitude +5.6 open cluster located 5,805 ±391 light-years away in the constellation Norma.
The cluster was discovered by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop using a homemade 9-foot 23 cm (9-inch) speculum Newtonian reflector at Paramatta (now named Parramatta), New South Wales, on the 8th May 1826.
Right Ascension16h 13m 10.9s, Declination -54° 13' 08"
It is located to the north of Kappa Normae, with an angular diameter of 12'. Visible to the naked eye in dark skies, it is best observed with binoculars or a small telescope, and a 12-inch aperture telescope will reveal about 250 stars. Read more