CCD uvby beta photometry of young open clusters – I. The double cluster h and chi Persei

Author(s): Capilla, G; Fabregat, J

Source: ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS  Volume: 394   Issue: 2   Pages: 479-488   DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20021200   Published: NOV 2002

We present CCD uvbybeta photometry for stars in the nuclei of the young double cluster h and chi Persei. We find that the reddening is highly variable through the h Per nucleus, increasing from west to east, with values 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 is fairly constant, with E(b – y) = 0.398 +/- 0.025. Both clusters share a common distance modulus of 11.7 +/- 0.1 mag, and an age of log t = 7.10 +/- 0.05 years.