A RAVE investigation on Galactic open clusters I. Radial velocities and metallicities

Abstract

Context. Galactic open clusters (OCs) mainly belong to the young stellar population in the Milky Way disk, but are there groups and complexes of OCs that possibly define an additional level in hierarchical star formation? Current compilations are too incomplete to address this question, especially regarding radial velocities (RVs) and metallicities ([M/H]).

Aims. Here we provide and discuss newly obtained RV and [M/H] data, which will enable us to reinvestigate potential groupings of open clusters and associations.

Methods. We extracted additional RVs and [M/H] from the RAdial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) via a cross-match with the Catalogue of Stars in Open Cluster Areas (CSOCA). For the identified OCs in RAVE we derived (RV) over bar and ([M/H]) over bar from a cleaned working sample and compared the results with previous findings.

Results. Although our RAVE sample does not show the same accuracy as the entire survey, we were able to derive reliable (RV) over bar for 110 Galactic open clusters. For 37 OCs we publish (RV) over bar for the first time. Moreover, we determined ([M/H]) over bar for 81 open clusters, extending the number of OCs with ([M/H]) over bar by 69.