2005/01/21 by G. Carraro, Giovanni Carraro
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/428945
published as Astrophys.J. 621 (2005) L61-L64 · 16 pages, 7 eps figure, accepted for publication as ApJ Letter
arxiv created 2005/01/21 · openalex publication_date 2005/02/07 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/02
We report on BVI CCD photometry of a field centered in the region of the Galactic star cluster Whiting 1 down to V = 23.0. This cluster has never been studied insofar, and we provide for the first time estimates of its fundamental parameters, namely, radial extent, age, distance, and reddening. Whiting 1 turns out to be a compact star cluster with a diameter of about 1'. We find that the cluster is about 5 Gyr old and has a probable metal abundance around [Fe/H] = -1.20. Its position at b = -60 64 and at a heliocentric distance of about 45 kpc makes the cluster a rather strange object, surely not a disk old open cluster, but perhaps the youngest halo globular cluster insofar known.