Exploring NGC 2287: An Investigation of Open Cluster Membership, Rotation, and a Curiously Bifurcated Main Sequence

The study of stellar clusters is integral to our understanding of many areas of astrophysics because of the role they play as astrophysical benchmarks. Thanks to shared characteristics (in particular, age and chemical composition) of their members, open star clusters represent essential subjects to address contemporary problems in stellar structure, formation, and evolution. The rich open cluster NGC 2287 (the Little Beehive) is young (age~200 Myr), relatively nearby (D~735 pc), and suffers little intervening extinction, making it ripe for further study. The cluster is particularly noteworthy for displaying a rotationally bifurcated upper main sequence. We are investigating the membership and properties of NGC 2287 via analysis of archival data from Gaia Data Release 3 (DR3), the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), and the Chandra X-ray Observatory, using an in-development virtual reality (VR) program (StarGateVR) and an in-development TESS light curve fitting program (the TESSilator), respectively. Our preliminary results include identification of new candidate members in NGC 2287 via VR-assisted 3D kinematic and proper motion analysis and significantly extending the characterization of the cluster’s stellar rotation behavior both along the upper main sequence and among its late-type members, using the combination of Gaia DR3 and TESS data. Forthcoming Chandra X-ray imaging should provide constraints on NGC 2287’s low-mass star population and the possible binarity of early type stars, hypothesized as a cause of the bifurcation in stellar rotation rates.