Color-Magnitude Diagrams and Luminosity Functions Down to the Hydrogen-Burning Limit. III. A Preliminary Hubble Space Telescope Study of NGC 6791

Abstract

Using Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys Wide Field Channel images, we derive the color-magnitude diagram of the old, metal-rich open cluster NGC 6791 to nearly 29th magnitude in V, which is the neighborhood of the hydrogen-burning limit. Comparison with isochrones leads to a discussion of the distance modulus, the reddening, and the age of the cluster. By making a statistical correction for field stars, we derive a preliminary luminosity function and a very tentative mass function. The white dwarf sequence is clearly shown and has been discussed in a separate paper.

Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555.