OC Binary Explorer

Access photometric binary-star data in a collection of open clusters

An NSF-funded research project from PI Aaron M. Geller.

We use the Bayesian Analysis of Stellar Evolution with Nine Parameters (BASE-9) software suite along with Gaia kinematics and distances and photometry from Gaia, Pan-STARRS and 2MASS to characterise the binary-star populations in a collection of open clusters. For information about our methods and results, please see the Papers section at the bottom of this page. You can access these data by clicking on the button below.

The interactive visualization above shows the open cluster population as seem from Earth, with the clusters in this study highlighted in pink.

Click here to enter the Interactive Data Explorer

View, filter, sort, create, edit, and download data and plots

Meet the Team

Aaron Geller
Research Assistant Professor, Project PI
Northwestern Unversity - CIERA

Anna Childs
Postdoctoral Associate
Northwestern Unversity - CIERA

Erin Motherway, Undergraduate Researcher, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Claire Zwicker, Undergraduate Researcher, Illinois Institute of Technology

Papers

Childs, C. A., Geller, A. M., von Hippel, T., Motherway, E., and Zwicker, C., 'Goodbye Chi-by-Eye: A Bayesian Analysis of Photometric Binaries in Six Open Clusters', 2023, submitted to ApJ
Motherway, E., Geller, A. M., Childs, A. C., Zwicker, C., and von Hippel, T., 'Tracing the Origins of Mass Segregation in M35: Evidence for Primordially Segregated Binaries', 2023, submitted to ApJL
Zwicker, C., Geller, A. M., Childs, A. C., Motherway, E., and von Hippel, T., 'Investigating Mass Segregation of the Binary Stars in the Open Cluster NGC 6819', 2023, submitted to ApJL

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under AAG Grant No. AST-2107738. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

© Aaron M. Geller 2023