The Secret Lives of Open Clusters: a Multiwavelength Examination of Three Open Clusters
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| _version_ | 1866914250852663296 |
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| author | Dage, Kristen C. Hunt, Emily L. Anderson-Baldwin, Jasmine Tremou, Evangelia Rao, Khushboo K. Oh, Kwangmin Sudha, Malu Hurley, Jarrod Mathieu, Robert D. Patil, Aarya Plotkin, Richard M. Hopkins, Andrew M. van Loon, Jacco Th. Willingham, Jayde |
| author_facet | Dage, Kristen C. Hunt, Emily L. Anderson-Baldwin, Jasmine Tremou, Evangelia Rao, Khushboo K. Oh, Kwangmin Sudha, Malu Hurley, Jarrod Mathieu, Robert D. Patil, Aarya Plotkin, Richard M. Hopkins, Andrew M. van Loon, Jacco Th. Willingham, Jayde |
| contents | Star clusters are well known for their dynamical interactions, an outcome of their high stellar densities; in this paper we use multiwavelength observations to search for the unique outcomes of these interactions in three nearby Galactic open clusters: IC 2602 (30 Myr), NGC 2632 (750 Myr) and M67 (4 Gyr). We compared X-ray observations from all-sky surveys like eROSITA, plus archival observations from Chandra X-ray Observatory, survey radio observations from ASKAP's Evolutionary Map of the Universe survey plus archival VLA observations, in conjunction with new cluster catalogs with Gaia. From X-ray, we found 77 X-ray sources likely associated with IC 2602, 31 X-ray sources in NGC 2632, and 31 near M67's central regions. We were further able to classify these X-ray sources based on their optical variability and any radio emission. Three IC 2602 X-ray sources had radio counterparts, which are likely all chromospherically active binary stars. We also identified luminous radio and X-ray variability from a spectroscopic triple system in M67, WOCS 3012/S1077, which is either consistent with a quiescent black hole binary, or due to an active binary stellar system. A recent population study of optical variables by Anderson & Hunt 2025 shows that the population of optical variables in open clusters clearly changes over cluster age; this pilot study gives evidence that the X-ray population also changes with time, and demonstrates the need for a broader multiwavelength study of Galactic open clusters. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_08087 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | The Secret Lives of Open Clusters: a Multiwavelength Examination of Three Open Clusters Dage, Kristen C. Hunt, Emily L. Anderson-Baldwin, Jasmine Tremou, Evangelia Rao, Khushboo K. Oh, Kwangmin Sudha, Malu Hurley, Jarrod Mathieu, Robert D. Patil, Aarya Plotkin, Richard M. Hopkins, Andrew M. van Loon, Jacco Th. Willingham, Jayde Astrophysics of Galaxies High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Solar and Stellar Astrophysics Star clusters are well known for their dynamical interactions, an outcome of their high stellar densities; in this paper we use multiwavelength observations to search for the unique outcomes of these interactions in three nearby Galactic open clusters: IC 2602 (30 Myr), NGC 2632 (750 Myr) and M67 (4 Gyr). We compared X-ray observations from all-sky surveys like eROSITA, plus archival observations from Chandra X-ray Observatory, survey radio observations from ASKAP's Evolutionary Map of the Universe survey plus archival VLA observations, in conjunction with new cluster catalogs with Gaia. From X-ray, we found 77 X-ray sources likely associated with IC 2602, 31 X-ray sources in NGC 2632, and 31 near M67's central regions. We were further able to classify these X-ray sources based on their optical variability and any radio emission. Three IC 2602 X-ray sources had radio counterparts, which are likely all chromospherically active binary stars. We also identified luminous radio and X-ray variability from a spectroscopic triple system in M67, WOCS 3012/S1077, which is either consistent with a quiescent black hole binary, or due to an active binary stellar system. A recent population study of optical variables by Anderson & Hunt 2025 shows that the population of optical variables in open clusters clearly changes over cluster age; this pilot study gives evidence that the X-ray population also changes with time, and demonstrates the need for a broader multiwavelength study of Galactic open clusters. |
| title | The Secret Lives of Open Clusters: a Multiwavelength Examination of Three Open Clusters |
| topic | Astrophysics of Galaxies High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Solar and Stellar Astrophysics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.08087 |