Background and Figures of NGC 3330
NGC 3330 is an open cluster that is located 2920 light years away from Earth. James Dunlop discovered this bright and beautiful mass of stars on April 29, 1826. It is 5.1 light-years wide and yet it is made up of less than 50 stars. It is calculated to be 169 million years old. It is associated with the Vela constellation and is more visible in the Southern Hemisphere. This cluster cannot be seen from Saskatoon but if we were able to see it, we would be able to view it with small binoculars due to its visual magnitude (Magnitude V) of 7.4 (551nm wavelength, relating to Green/Yellow colour). It has a magnitude B of 7.55 (445nm wavelength, relating to the blue colour) This means it is both vivid and relatively young.
It has an angular size of 5.1 arcminutes. The J2000 celestial coordinates for NGC 3330 were listed as the right ascension of 10h 38m 44s and a declination of -54° 07’ 50”.
To give a visual representation of where this cluster is located in the sky, I have included an image taken from theskylive.com which is a simplified view of where NGC 3330 is located in the Vela constellation as viewed from the London/Europe Time zone.
Analyzation of the NGC 3330
In order to define the associations between colours, magnitude, and the estimated age and chemical composition of the cluster, I used the Skynet telescope network to capture fifteen images. These were taken in a series of five sets with 1.0 hours between each set. Each set made use of the B, V, and R filters, with exposure times of 50 seconds, 35 seconds, and 20 seconds correspondingly. The data collected from these images were then treated using the Afterglow software to reduce noise and ensure the highest quality of data possible. Then, using Cluster Pro Plus software, I calculated the curve which could be used to compute basic parameters such as distance, proper motion, and size.
| Estimated Proper Motion in RA: | -7.665 ± 0.211 mas/yr |
| Estimated Proper Motion in Dec: | 3.031 ± 0.265 mas/yr |
| Distance: | 1.90 kpc ± 20% |
| Log(Age): | 6.85 log(yr) |
| Calculated Age: | 10^6.85 = 7079457.844 |
| Metallicity: | -1.61 solar |
| E(B-V): | 0.4 mag |
Conclusion
Although this project had challenges, it was rewarding to be able to solve and overcome them in pursuit of analysing this cluster. It gave me the opportunity to learn about this charming cluster while gaining hands-on skills in gathering, treating and presenting the data in an accessible form. It was great to be able to use the software and to see the immediate results of my work. Although this cluster didn’t have any elements of it that were radically unexpected, I did enjoy the new knowledge gained and being able to share what I learned with any interested party.