Abstract:
Gaia is a European satellite mission recording positional and radial
velocity measurements for about a billion stars in order to create a
three-dimensional map of the Milky Way Galaxy. Stars form in groups
within giant molecular clouds of gas and dust and are gravitationally
bound in what is known as open clusters. The members of an
individual cluster share similar kinematic properties as the cluster
orbits the Galactic center. Over time open clusters dissolve due to the
equipartition process, or disruption from tidal encounters; however
the former members still share common motions despite being
spread out across the Galaxy. Dismantled members from a given
cluster are collectively known as a moving group. Using the Python
programming language, we calculated the three-dimensional space
velocity components and their uncertainties for individual stars in the
Gaia catalog. Once these values were determined, we developed a
method to search through the catalog and identify stars with common
kinematic properties that have potential to constitute a moving group.
We have compiled a list of 450 candidate moving groups with at
least five members; 38 of the candidate groups contain ten or more
members. These data will be used in future observing projects to
look for other indications, such as common metallicities, to confirm
the possible members are related.
