NGC 2270 is an intermediate aged open cluster, located in constellation Monoceros very close to the celestial equator, making it partially visible in both equators at certain times of the year. A fairly large telescope is needed to observe this cluster considering its size, brightness, and classification.
The cluster was determined to be approximately 1.1 billion years old, around the time when Rodina (supercontinent) was formed, and around 7534 lightyears away. NGC 2270 shares a constellation with the Christmas Tree Cluster, which is a green cluster which resembles a Christmas tree, and when observed with the Chandra space telescope it has blue flashing “lights” on its exterior (Constellation Guide, 2024). Unfortunately, I was not able to find any research papers for cluster NGC 2270 or any information outside of what I analyzed.
To study and observe NGC 2270, and observe the relative brightness, age, colour, and metallically, I used Skynet, afterglow, and Astromancer. Skynet was used to get the cluster observation using prompt 5 at Cerro Tololo observatory and the B, V, and R filters. This observation allowed me to obtain observations for use in afterglow. exposures used for the various filters are listed below.
| filters | B | V | R |
| exposure durations (seconds) | 40 | 25 | 15 |
Next, I used Afterglow to obtain photometric data for use in Astromancer, as well as make a full colour image shown below using the B (blue), V(green), and R(red) filters from skynet which is shown below.
Next, I used Astromancer to find the distance, metallicity, Redshift, Log age, and number of stars and more within the cluster. this was done using isochrone models as show below. I found it fairly difficult to make a perfect fit isochrone model, since there seems to be lots of young stars, blue stragglers, and a couple of red giants which was confirmed by analysis of the dereddened image. also, since this is an open cluster, there is not very many stars within the frame so the trends are not very obvious without the Gaia and 2mass data. There also seems to be a beautiful blue reflection nebula around the middle of the cluster.
\
| name | classification | #stars | mass (solar) | physical radius(ly) | RA(deg) | DEC(deg) | Angular radius | PM Ra | PM Dec |
| NGC 2270 | open | 973 | 886928 | 18.14 | 100.99 | 3.48 | 0.318 | -0.27 | -0.43 |
| Distance (kpc) | Log(yrs) | age (Myrs) | metalicity (solar) | Reddening (mag) |
| 2.31 | 9.05 | 1122.02 | -0.45 | 0.54 |
When my data is compared to the MWSC data (shown below), I think my datas fits the isochrone model better. On the upper part of the model, my line seems to fit the curvature better, and the MWSC seems to be including lots of blue stragglers on the main sequence curve. also, MWSC did not calculate an accurate metallicity, in fact it completely neglects the idea of metallicity despite it being a very important factor. so with all of those factors considered, I can conclude I have a valid isochrone model fit.
Having completed my analysis, I have gained a new appreciation for astronomers, and the work they do without these easy-to-use websites, and previously observed celestial objects. I am overall very happy with how the project turned out, and I can now look at the sky with a sense of wonder now knowing what lurks in the infinite abyss above.
Work Cited:
Astronomicon Link: https://astronomicon.skynet.unc.edu/clusters/SASC/396/revisions/55
https://theskylive.com/sky/deepsky/ngc2270-object
https://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-basic?Ident=NGC+2270&submit=SIMBAD+search
https://www.constellation-guide.com/christmas-tree-cluster/