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Caroline Herschel's catalogue of nebulae
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Calibration of a UBVRI sequence around Nova Cyg 2006
A highly accurate UBV(RI)c photometric sequence around Nova Cyg 2006 ispresented. The photometric stability of the stars in the sequence hasbeen checked on 12 different nights. The sequence is linked to theLandolt's equatorial standards for (RI)c bands and to UBV photoelectricphotometry of selected open clusters by Hoag et al. (1961).

Astrophysical parameters of Galactic open clusters
We present a catalogue of astrophysical data for 520 Galactic openclusters. These are the clusters for which at least three most probablemembers (18 on average) could be identified in the ASCC-2.5, a catalogueof stars based on the Tycho-2 observations from the Hipparcos mission.We applied homogeneous methods and algorithms to determine angular sizesof cluster cores and coronae, heliocentric distances, mean propermotions, mean radial velocities, and ages. For the first time we derivedistances for 200 clusters, radial velocities for 94 clusters, and agesof 196 clusters. This homogeneous new parameter set is compared withearlier determinations, where we find, in particular, that the angularsizes were systematically underestimated in the literature.

A CCD Search for Variable Stars of Spectral Type B in the Northern Hemisphere Open Clusters. VI. NGC 6910
We present results of variability search in the field of the young opencluster NGC 6910. We found four beta Cep-type stars in the cluster,which makes it rather exceptional among the northern clusters observedin our project. Two of these beta Cep stars show three modes withamplitudes above the detection level, in the remaining two we detectsingle modes. We discuss the possibility that the large number of betaCep stars in NGC 6910 is due to higher metallicity of the cluster. Inaddition, we found four other variables, one ellipsoidal or eclipsingbinary and three that show irregular variations. The latter three starshave H alpha in emission.We also provide VI_C photometry for 139 stars down to V=16.6 mag and Halpha photometry for 73 stars. Using this photometry we estimate thecluster age to be equal to 6+/-2 Myr, and the distance modulus,11.0+/-0.3 mag. The reddening is high and variable across the cluster.In terms of the E(V-I_C) color-excess it amounts to 1.25-1.7 mag,corresponding to E(B-V) between 1.0 mag and 1.4 mag. The averagereddening in the central field is E(V-I_ C=1.47+/-0.04 mag.

Kinematics and binaries in young stellar aggregates. II. NGC 6913 ≡ M 29
Between 1996 and 2003 we obtained 226 high resolution spectra of 16stars in the field of the young open cluster NGC 6913, to constrain itsmain properties and study its internal kinematics. Twelve of the programstars turned out to be members, one of them probably unbound. Nine arebinaries (one eclipsing and another double lined) and for seven of themthe observations allowed us to derive the orbital elements. All but twoof the nine discovered binaries are cluster members. In spite of theyoung age (a few Myr), the cluster already shows signs that could beinterpreted as evidence of dynamical relaxation and mass segregation.However, they may be also the result of an unconventional formationscenario. The dynamical (virial) mass as estimated from the radialvelocity dispersion is larger than the cluster luminous mass, which maybe explained by a combination of the optically thick interstellar cloudthat occults part of the cluster, the unbound state or undetected verywide binary orbit of some of the members that inflate the velocitydispersion and a high inclination for the axis of possible clusterangular momentum. All the discovered binaries are hard enough to surviveaverage close encounters within the cluster and do not yet show signs ofrelaxation of the orbital elements to values typical of field binaries.Table 2 is only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.orgTable 4 is only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymousftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/415/145

Metallicity distribution on the galactic disk
Depending mainly on UBVCCD data, the metallicities of 91 open starclusters nearby the galactic disk have been estimated using Cameron's[A&A 147 (1985b) 39] method. The metallicity radial gradient alongthe galactic plane is found to be -0.09 dex/kpc; which is in a very goodagreement with Panagia and Tosi [A&A 96 (1981) 306] and Carraro etal. [MNRAS 296 (1998) 1045]. Vertically on the galactic disk, withinabout 800 pc, the metallicity gradient is found to be so trivial. Anaverage age-metallicity relation has been examined, which confirms theprevious suggestion that the metallicity of a cluster depending mainlyon its position on the galactic disk more than its age.

Proper Motions of Open Star Clusters and the Rotation Rate of the Galaxy
The mean proper motions of 167 Galactic open clusters withradial-velocity measurements are computed from the data of the Tycho-2catalog using kinematic and photometric cluster membership criteria. Theresulting catalog is compared to the results of other studies. The newproper motions are used to infer the Galactic rotation rate at the solarcircle, which is found to be ω0=+24.6±0.8 km s-1 kpc-1.Analysis of the dependence of the dispersion of ω0 estimates onheliocentric velocity showed that even the proper motions of clusterswith distances r>3 kpc contain enough useful information to be usedin kinematic studies demonstrating that the determination of propermotions is quite justified even for very distant clusters.

On the Galactic Disk Metallicity Distribution from Open Clusters. I. New Catalogs and Abundance Gradient
We have compiled two new open cluster catalogs. In the first one, thereare 119 objects with ages, distances, and metallicities available, whilein the second one, 144 objects have both absolute proper motion andradial velocity data, of which 45 clusters also have metallicity dataavailable. Taking advantage of the large number of objects included inour sample, we present an iron radial gradient of about -0.063+/-0.008dex kpc-1 from the first sample, which is quite consistentwith the most recent determination of the oxygen gradient from nebulaeand young stars, about -0.07 dex kpc-1. By dividing clustersinto age groups, we show that the iron gradient was steeper in the past,which is consistent with the recent result from Galactic planetarynebulae data, and also consistent with inside-out galactic diskformation scenarios. Based on the cluster sample, we also discuss themetallicity distribution, cluster kinematics, and space distribution. Adisk age-metallicity relation could be implied by those properties,although we cannot give conclusive result from the age- metallicitydiagram based on the current sample. More observations are needed formetal-poor clusters. From the second catalog, we have calculated thevelocity components in cylindrical coordinates with respect to theGalactic standard of rest for 144 open clusters. The velocitydispersions of the older clusters are larger than those of youngclusters, but they are all much smaller than that of the Galactic thickdisk stars.

Urban Astronomy: Observing the Messier Objects from the City
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Morphological analysis of open clusters' propertiesII. Relationships projected onto the galactic plane
A morphological analysis study of open clusters' properties has beenachieved for a sample of 160 UBVCCD open star clusters of approximately128,000 stars near the galactic plane. The data was obtained and reducedfrom using the same reduction procedures, which makes this catalogue thelargest homogeneous source of open clusters' parameters.

Spectroscopic orbit of the eclipsing binary V2031 Cyg in the field of the open cluster NGC 6913=M 29
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A Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer Survey of Interstellar Molecular Hydrogen in Translucent Clouds
We report the first ensemble results from the Far UltravioletSpectroscopic Explorer survey of molecular hydrogen in lines of sightwith AV>~1 mag. We have developed techniques for fittingcomputed profiles to the low-J lines of H2, and thusdetermining column densities for J=0 and J=1, which contain >~99% ofthe total H2. From these column densities and ancillary datawe have derived the total H2 column densities, hydrogenmolecular fractions, and kinetic temperatures for 23 lines of sight.This is the first significant sample of molecular hydrogen columndensities of ~1021 cm-2, measured through UVabsorption bands. We have also compiled a set of extinction data forthese lines of sight, which sample a wide range of environments. We havesearched for correlations of our H2-related quantities withpreviously published column densities of other molecules and extinctionparameters. We find strong correlations between H2 andmolecules such as CH, CN, and CO, in general agreement with predictionsof chemical models. We also find the expected correlations betweenhydrogen molecular fraction and various density indicators such askinetic temperature, CN abundance, the steepness of the far-UVextinction rise, and the width of the 2175 Å bump. Despite therelatively large molecular fractions, we do not see the values greaterthan 0.8 expected in translucent clouds. With the exception of a fewlines of sight, we see little evidence for the presence of individualtranslucent clouds in our sample. We conclude that most of the lines ofsight are actually composed of two or more diffuse clouds similar tothose found toward targets like ζ Oph. We suggest a modification interminology to distinguish between a ``translucent line of sight'' and a``translucent cloud.''

A Metal-poor Compact H II Region with a Small, Isolated, and Dense Young Stellar Cluster
IRAS 04000+5052 appears to be a single, somewhat extended red source onoptical CCD images. From our infrared imaging observations, an infraredcluster consisting of 15 objects is discovered in this region. In thispaper, by discussing and analyzing the observational results ofnear-infrared imaging, optical spectroscopy, and the 12COmolecular line, together with IRAS and NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) data,we conclude that IRAS 04000+5052 is a compact H II region with a veryyoung dense stellar cluster. The spectrum of the compact H II regionshows that it is a metal-poor nebula, which has the lowest line ratio of[N II]/Hα (~1/16.3) discovered in the H II regions of our Galaxyuntil now. There are three possible explanations. The first is a HerbigBe star model, the second suggests that the material constituting thisnebula could come from some nearby external galaxy from accretion ofgalaxies, and the third suggests that the material was produced in theprimeval phase of our Galaxy and has not been chemically contaminatedmuch. There exists an undetected gap between K=13.6 and the detectionlimit of 16.2 mag. We give two possible interpretations for thisundetected gap; one is based on the star formation itself, and the otheris a possible observational effect. This infrared cluster is a verysmall (0.83pc[north-south]×1.55pc[east-west]) and isolatedhigh-mass protostellar cluster, in which there is a B0.5-type starexciting the compact H II region. The derived heliocentric distance(~4.29 kpc) of IRAS 04000+5052 is twice as large as that of the Perseusarm. It is located far beyond the Perseus arm at the direction(l=150.86).

CCD uvbybeta photometry of young open clusters. I. The double cluster h and chi Persei
We present CCD uvbybeta photometry for stars in the nuclei of the youngdouble cluster h and chi Persei. We find that the reddening is highlyvariable through the h Per nucleus, increasing from west to east, withvalues ranging from E(b-y) = 0.328+/-0.022 in the western part to E(b-y)= 0.465+/-0.024 in the south-east. Towards chi Per the reddening isfairly constant, with E(b-y) = 0.398+/-0.025. Both clusters share acommon distance modulus of 11.7+/-0.1 mag, and an age of log t =7.10+/-0.05 years. Tables 6 and 7 are only available in electronic format the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.125.5) orvia http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/394/479

Characteristics of new star cluster candidates in the Cygnus area
The morphology and stellar content of 22 clusters in the Cygnus area hasbeen determined using 2MASS infrared observations in the J and K bands.7 of the clusters are well-known objects and our results are in goodagreement with previous work. 12 objects are recently-discovered clustercandidates (Dutra & Bica \cite{dutra01}) and 3 are new clustercandidates. Adopting distance estimates from the literature or byconsidering cluster counterparts, we derive a consistent set ofparameters suitable for analysis and comparison: center coordinates,radius, stellar population, IMF slope and mass range. We find a mean IMFslope of Gamma =-1.30 for the known clusters and Gamma =-1.40 for theothers. Infrared data having better completeness, we derive largerstellar contents and cluster masses than previous works. An importantfraction of the cluster stellar population in Cygnus is hidden in veryobscured areas. A clear tendency towards mass segregation appears formost of the clusters. Some of the new clusters seem to be quite massive,probably hosting very massive stars at the center. They are privilegedtargets for more detailed investigations using infrared spectroscopy.

Gamma-ray line emission from OB associations and young open clusters. II. The Cygnus region
Gamma-ray and microwave observations of the Cygnus region reveal anintense signal of 1.809 Me line emission, attributed to radioactivedecay of 26, that is closely correlated with 53 GHz free-freeemission, originating from the ionised interstellar medium. We modelledboth emissions using a multi-wavelength evolutionary synthesis code formassive star associations that we applied to the known massive starpopulations in Cygnus. For all OB associations and young open clustersin the field, we determined the population age, distance, and richnessas well as the uncertainties in all these quantities from publishedphotometric and spectroscopic data. We propagate the populationuncertainties in model uncertainties by means of a Bayesian method. Theyoung globular cluster Cyg OB2 turns out to be the dominant26 nucleosynthesis and ionisation source in Cygnus. Our modelreproduces the ionising luminosity of the Cygnus region very well, yetit underestimates 26 production by about a factor of 2. Weattribute this underestimation to shortcomings of currentnucleosynthesis models, and suggest the inclusion of stellar rotationas possible mechanism to enhance 26 production. We alsomodelled 60Fe nucleosynthesis in the Cygnus region, yet thesmall number of recent supernova events suggests only little60Fe production. Consequently, a detection of the 1.137 Meand 1.332 Me decay lines of 60Fe from Cygnus by the upcomingINTEGRAL observatory is not expected. Appendices A and B, and Tables 1,2, and 5 are only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org

Proper motions of open clusters based on the TYCHO2 Catalogue. II. Clusters farther than 1 kpc
We determined the mean absolute proper motion of 94 open clusterssituated farther than 1 kpc from the Sun. The results are derived fromthe stellar proper motion data given in the Tycho2 Catalogue. The meanproper motion of the clusters and membership probability of individualstars were obtained from the proper motion data by applying thestatistical method proposed by Sanders (\cite{Sanders1971}). Themeasurements made use of a large number of stars, usually several tens,for each cluster. The total number of stars investigated in the fieldsof the clusters is 4864 of which 2021 were considered members. For 55clusters, this is the first determination of the proper motion. Based onobservations of the ESA Hipparcos satellite. Tables 1 to 95 are onlyavailable in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/388/168

Integrated photometric characteristics of galactic open star clusters
Integrated UBVRI photometric parameters of 140 galactic open clustershave been computed. Integrated I(V-R)0 and I(V-I)0colours as well as integrated parameters for 71 star clusters have beenobtained for the first time. These, in combination with published data,altogether 352 objects, are used to study the integrated photometriccharacteristics of the galactic open clusters. The I(MV)values range from -9.0 to -1.0 mag corresponding to a range in totalmass of the star clusters from ~ 25 to 4*E4 Msun.The integrated colours have a relatively narrow range, e.g., I(B-V){_0}varies from -0.4 to 1.2 mag. The scatter in integrated colours at agiven integrated magnitude can be understood in terms of differences infraction of red giants/supergiants in the clusters. The observedintegrated magnitudes and colours agree with the synthetic ones, exceptthe dependences of I(V-R)0 and I(V-I)0 colours forclusters younger than ~ 100 Myrs and also of the integrated magnitudesof oldest clusters. The large sample provides the most accurate agedependence of integrated magnitudes and colours determined so far. Theluminosity function of the I(MV) has a peak around -3.5 magand its slope indicates that only ~ 1% of the open clusters in thegalactic disc are brighter than I(MV)=-11 mag. No variationhas been found of integrated magnitude with galactocentric distance andmetallicity.

The blue to red supergiant ratio in young clusters at various metallicities
We present new determinations of the blue to red supergiant ratio (B/R)in young open clusters at various metallicities. For this purpose, weexamine the HR diagrams of 45 clusters in the Galaxy and of 4 clustersin the Magellanic Clouds. The identification of supergiants is based onspectroscopic measurements (with photometric counts to check theresults). The new counts confirm the increase of the B/R ratio when themetallicity increases with the following normalized relation:(B/R)/((B/R)sun) =~ 0.05* e3(Z)/(Zsun)}, where Zsun=0.02 and(B/R)sun is the value of B/R at Zsun which dependson the definition of B and R and on the age interval considered (e.g.for spectroscopic counts including clusters with log age between 6.8 and7.5, (B/R)sun =~ 3 when B includes O, B and A supergiants).

Morphological analysis of open clusters' propertiesI. Properties' estimations
A sample of 160 UBVCCD observations of open star clusters near thegalactic plane has been studied, and a catalogue of their propertiesobtained. The main photometrical properties have been re-estimated selfconsistently and the results have been compared with those of Lynga[Lynga, G., 1987. Catalog of Open Cluster Data, 5th Edition, StellarData Centers, Observatoire de Strasbourg, France].

Non-uniform extinction in young open star clusters
The extinction law and the variation of colour excess with position,luminosity and spectral class in young open star clusters NGC 663, NGC869, NGC 884, NGC 1502, NGC 1893, NGC 2244, NGC 2264, NGC 6611, Tr 14,Tr 15, Tr 16, Coll 228, Tr 37 and Be 86 have been studied. Thedifference in the minimum and maximum values of E(B-V) of clustermembers has been considered as a measure of the presence of non-uniformgas and dust inside the clusters. Its value ranges from 0.22 to 1.03magin the clusters under study, which indicates that non-uniform extinctionis present in all the clusters. It has been noticed for the first timein NGC 1502 and Tr 37. It is also found that the differential colourexcess in open clusters, which may be caused by the presence of gas anddust, decreases systematically with the age of clusters, indicating thatmatter is either used in star formation or blown away by hot stars orboth. There is no uniformity in the variation of E(B-V) with position orspectral class or luminosity. Except in Tr 14, all clusters show arandom spatial distribution of E(B-V), indicating a random distributionof gas and dust inside the clusters. The E(B-V) value correlates withboth luminosity and spectral class only in the case of Coll 228, Tr 16and Be 86. The members of these clusters atλ>=λR show larger values of colour excessratios than the normal ones. The value of E(U-V)/E(B-V) for most of thecluster members is close to the normal interstellar value of 1.73.However, the colour excess ratios with E(B-V) atλ>=λJ are smaller than the normal value forNGC 663, NGC 869, NGC 884 and NGC 1502, while they are larger for NGC6611, Coll 228, Tr 16 and Tr 14. Thus there is no uniformity in therelationship of extinction properties amongst the clusters under study.

Fundamental parameters and new variables of the galactic open cluster NGC 7128
CCD photometry in Johnson UBV and Strömgren uvby systems andmedium-resolution spectroscopy of the galactic open cluster NGC 7128 arepresented. Spectral types of the brightest 12 stars in the cluster fieldwere determined based on equivalent widths of the Hα and the Hei6678-Å line. The spectroscopic observations also revealed twoobvious and one probable Be-type stars showing Hα emission. Theanalysis of the photometric diagrams gave a colour excess ofE(B-V)=1.03+/-0.06mag, a distance modulus DM=13.0+/-0.2mag and an ageabove 10Myr. Time-resolved photometric observations obtained on onenight resulted in the detection of short time-scale light variations ofseven new and three already known variable stars in the cluster field.

Spectroscopic Binaries in Young Open Clusters
We have analysed the binarity and multiplicity characteristics of 120O-type stars in 22 very young open clusters and found marked differencesbetween the "rich" (N >= 6 O-type stars and primaries) and "poor" (N= 1) clusters. In the rich clusters, the binary frequencies vary between14% (1 SB among 7 stars) and 80% (8 SBs among 10 stars). Multiplesystems seem not to be frequent and stars are spread all over thecluster area. In poor clusters, the binary frequency of the O-typeobjects is nearly 100%, with orbital periods around 3 days. Severalbinaries are also eclipsing. Additional companions are always present.They form either hierarchical multiple stars or trapezium systems. Thesemassive multiple systems are generally found close to the clustercenter, although there are exceptions.

Vilnius Photometry and Reddening of the Young Open Cluster NGC 6913
87 stars in the NGC 6913 field with both UBV and Vilnius photometry areselected to be the sample. The membership probability of the stars isgreater than 50%. The correlation among Vilnius photometry, UBVphotometry and reddening in the cluster is reviewed. It is found thatthe photometry in the Vilnius X, Y and Z bands can be used to make roughspectral classification. The values of E(B-V) are well correlated withthe Vilnius colors of X-Y, Y-Z, Z-V and V-S in NGC 6913. The ratio of(V-S)/(Y-Z) of the MPCM (Most Possible Cluster Members) is a constant(1.30 ~ ± 0.06), and has no effect on the values of E(B-V), (B-V)_0and V_0. Comparing with the observational data of all the stars of NGC6913 region, we propose that the value of (V-S)/(Y-Z) can probably beused to select the preliminary candidates of one open cluster. Inaddition, 12 variable stars are discovered in the NGC 6913 region, inwhich star #155 has a variation with an amplitude of 4.25 mag.

Absolute proper motions of open clusters. I. Observational data
Mean proper motions and parallaxes of 205 open clusters were determinedfrom their member stars found in the Hipparcos Catalogue. 360 clusterswere searched for possible members, excluding nearby clusters withdistances D < 200 pc. Members were selected using ground basedinformation (photometry, radial velocity, proper motion, distance fromthe cluster centre) and information provided by Hipparcos (propermotion, parallax). Altogether 630 certain and 100 possible members werefound. A comparison of the Hipparcos parallaxes with photometricdistances of open clusters shows good agreement. The Hipparcos dataconfirm or reject the membership of several Cepheids in the studiedclusters. Tables 1 and 2 are only available in electronic form at theCDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html

On the evolutionary status of Be stars
We present a study of the incidence of Be stars in open clusters as afunction of the cluster age, using whenever possible ages determinedthrough Strömgren uvby photometry. For the first time in studies ofthis kind we have considered separately classical and Herbig Be stars.The main results can be summarized as follows: Clusters associated toemitting nebulosities and undergoing stellar formation are rich inemission line objects, which most likely are all pre main-sequencestars. No bona fide classical Be star has yet been identified amongthem. Clusters younger than 10 Myr and without associated nebulosity arealmost completely lacking Be stars, although they have a completeunevolved B main sequence. Classical Be stars appear at an age of 10Myr, and reach the maximum abundance in the age interval 13-25 Myr. Weinterpret our results in the sense that the Be phenomenon is anevolutionary effect which appears in the second half of the mainsequence lifetime of a B star. We propose that it can be related to mainstructural changes happening at this evolutionary phase, which also leadto the recently discovered non-monotonic helium abundance enhancement.The semiconvection or turbulent diffusion responsible of the surfacehelium enrichment, coupled with the high rotational velocity, cangenerate magnetic fields via the dynamo effect and thereby originate theBe phenomenon. Observational tests to this hypothesis are proposed.

Spectral classification and reddening in the young open cluster NGC 6913
Spectroscopic observations have been made for the young open cluster NGC6913. In total, the spectra of 100 stars of the cluster, havingmembership probability greater than 50%, have been obtained andclassified. Reddening is estimated on the basis of spectralclassification. The variable extinction across NGC 6913 is analyzed anddiscussed. From the spectroscopic observations, it is found that thespectral type distribution in our sample covers from O7 to K3. There areonly 2 O-type stars in this OB association. 40 and 33 percent of thetotal stars are B and A type stars respectively, and the F, G, K starsamount to 25 percent. An extreme variation of extinction is found acrossthe young open cluster NGC 6913. The distribution of extinction in theregion is correlated with the effective temperature of the stars forstars earlier than F8. It is found that extinction in the cluster centeris relatively homogeneous, but very large. The north and south of thiscluster have the largest extinction. The eastern and western parts seemto be low reddening regions. A mean distance modulus of 10.17+/-0.14mag. is derived for the cluster, which corresponds to a distance of 1.08kpc. A large part of the values of interstellar reddening of the starsin NGC 6913 from spectral classification are quite different from thosetaken from photometry (especially for early B and F type stars); thelargest discrepancy amounts to 1.48 mag.. Depending on a reddeningmethod, a total amount of 30% of the stars with membership probabilitygreater than 50% can be evaluated to be probable ``non-members" of thecluster. In addition, some interesting objects are found in this study.Further observations for these stars will be made in the future.

Statistical parallaxes and kinematical parameters of classical Cepheids and young star clusters
The statistical-parallax method is applied for the first time to spacevelocities of 270 classical Cepheids with proper motions adopted fromHIPPARCOS (1997) and TRC (Hog et al. 1998) catalogs and distances basedon the period-luminosity relation by Berdnikov et al. (1996). Thedistance scale of short-period Cepheids (with periods less than 9 days)is shown to require an average correction of 15-20%, whereas statisticalparallaxes of Cepheids with periods > 9 days are found to agree wellwith photometric distances. It is shown that the luminosities ofshort-period Cepheids must have been underestimated partly due to thecontamination of this subsample by a substantial (20 to 40%) fraction offirst-overtone pulsators. The statistical-parallax technique is alsoapplied for the first time to 117 open clusters younger than 100 millionyears and with proper motions reduced to the HIPPARCOS reference system.It is concluded that a 0.12-0.15 mag increase of the distance scales ofopen clusters and Cepheids would be sufficient to reconcile thestatistical-parallax results inferred for these two types of objects.Such approach leads to an LMC distance modulus of less than 18.40 mag,which agrees, within the errors, with the short distance scale for RRLyrae variables and is at variance with the conclusions by Feast andCatchpole (1998) and Feast et al. (1998), who argue that the LMCdistance modulus should be increased to 18.70 mag. The distance scalebased on the Cepheid period-luminosity relation by Berdnikov and Efremov(1985) seems to be a good compromise. Extragalactic distances, whichrely on long-period Cepheids, seem to require no substantial correction.In addition to statistical parallaxes, kinematical parameters have beeninferred for the combined sample consisting of Cepheids andopen-clusters: solar-motion components (U0 ,V0,W0) = (9, 12, 7) km/s (+/- 1 km/s); velocity-ellipsoid axes(σU; σV; σW) = (15.0,10.3, 8.5) km/s (+/- 1 km/s); the angular velocity of rotation of thesubsystem, ω0 = 28.7 +/- 1 km/s/kpc, the Oort constantA = 17.4 +/- 1.5 km/s, and the second derivative of angular velocity,⋰ω0= 1.15 +/- 0.2 km/s/kpc3.

Spectroscopy of Pre-Main-Sequence Candidates of Spectral Type AF in the Young Galactic Cluster IC 4996
We present the results of a spectroscopic analysis of thepre-main-sequence (PMS) candidates in IC 4996, proposed by Delgado etal. Spectral types and heliocentric radial velocities are calculated for16 stars in the field observed by these authors, 13 of them located inthe region of the color-magnitude diagram where their proposed PMS starsare located. The estimated heliocentric radial velocity of the clusteris centered around -12+/-5 km s^-1. From the radial velocitydistribution, six stars are rejected as cluster members, one of themshowing spectral features characteristic of an Am star. The remaining 10stars are confirmed as cluster members: three B-type stars and seven PMSstars of spectral types A4-F0 (six stars) and early G (one star). One ofthe proposed PMS members clearly shows radial velocity and spectral typevariations, as well as relatively broad Hα absorption. The G-typecluster member is a weak-lined T Tauri star with strong Li Iλ6708 absorption [W_λ(Li I)~=0.26 Å]. These resultsstrongly support the presence in the cluster of a populated sequence ofPMS stars of AF spectral type.

On the nature of the two-component kinematics of supershells around OB associations: the set of shells in the CYG OB1, CYG OB3 region.
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Observation and Astrometry data

Constellation:Cygnus
Right ascension:20h23m54.00s
Declination:+38°32'00.0"
Apparent magnitude:6.6

Catalogs and designations:
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MessierM 29
NGC 2000.0NGC 6913

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