Issue |
Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. Ser.
Volume 119, Number 2, October II 1996
|
|
---|---|---|
Page(s) | 221 - 230 | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/aas:1996240 | |
Published online | 15 October 1996 |
Deep CCD photometry and the initial mass function of the core of the OB cluster Berkeley 86
1
Rochester Institute of Technology, Center for Imaging Science, Rochester, NY 14623, U.S.A.
2
Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Via Lactea s/n, 38200 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain e-mail: hdeeg@iac.es
Send offprint request to: H.J. Deeg at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias
Received:
17
August
1995
Accepted:
6
March
1996
Based on photometry of deep CCD frames of the central region of
the OB cluster Berkeley 86, we derive the cluster mass function.
The absence of current star formation, and the cluster's young
age of about 6 Myrs, leads to the conclusion that the initial
mass function (IMF) and the current mass function are identical
for stars with 10
. In the range of
, an IMF with
a slope of
is found. This value agrees well with
other recent determinations of young clusters IMFs which are
close to the classical Salpeter IMF with
. Sections of
the IMF of Berkeley 86 that are significantly steeper, or
flatter, are most likely the result of a dip in the star's mass
distribution in the range of
. Similar dips may have
led to steep IMFs over narrow mass ranges, as reported in the
literature for some other clusters. No sign for a low mass
turn-over in the IMF of Berkeley 86 is found for masses
extending down to 0.85
.
Key words: stars: luminosity function, mass function / open clusters and associations: individual: Bky 86
© European Southern Observatory (ESO), 1996