I am currently working on developing software to analyze the mass function and structure of open clusters using SDSS data. This program is lovingly being called MaFiA: The Matched Filter Analysis Code. MaFiA is based on the technique of Rockosi et al. (2002) in their discovery of the tidally disrupted tails coming from the globular cluster Palomar-5. MaFiA uses a more detailed analysis to carefully determine statistical membership of clusters, and discusses the composition of the different parts of the cluster.
The ultimate goal of MaFiA is to investigate the mass functions of many open clusters, trying to determine common histories and hopefully a improve our understanding of mass loss in these young systems. I am currently working with Dr Eric Sandquist (SDSU) to improve this code. I presented my preliminary results at the winter AAS meeting in Long Beach, CA. A paper is forthcoming for mid 2009 submission.
Below is an animation of the orbit of M67 projected in galactic XYZ, and spun for giggles.
