We present a detailed investigation of photometric, spectroscopic, and polarimetric observations of the Type II SN 2023ixf. Earlier studies have provided compelling evidence for a delayed shock breakout from a confined dense circumstellar matter (CSM) enveloping the progenitor star. The temporal evolution of polarization in the SN 2023ixf phase revealed three distinct peaks in polarization evolution at 1.4 days, 6.4 days, and 79.2 days, indicating an asymmetric dense CSM, an aspherical shock front and clumpiness in the low-density extended CSM, and an aspherical inner ejecta/He-core. SN 2023ixf displayed two dominant axes, one along the CSM-outer ejecta and the other along the inner ejecta/He-core, showcasing the independent origin of asymmetry in the early and late evolution. The argument for an aspherical shock front is further strengthened by the presence of a high-velocity broad absorption feature in the blue wing of the Balmer features in addition to the P-Cygni absorption post-16 days. Hydrodynamical light-curve modeling indicated a progenitor mass of 10 M _⊙ with a radius of 470 R _⊙ and explosion energy of 2 × 10⁵¹ erg, along with 0.06 M _⊙ of ⁵⁶ Ni, though these properties are not unique due to modeling degeneracies. The modeling also indicated a two-zone CSM: a confined dense CSM extending up to 5 × 10¹⁴ cm with a mass-loss rate of 10⁻² M _⊙ yr⁻¹ and an extended CSM spanning from 5 × 10¹⁴ to at least 10¹⁶ cm with a mass-loss rate of 10⁻⁴ M _⊙ yr⁻¹, both assuming a wind-velocity of 10 km s⁻¹. The early-nebular phase observations display an axisymmetric line profile of [O i], redward attenuation of the emission of Hα post 125 days, and flattening in the Ks-band, marking the onset of dust formation.

We present a UBVI photometric study of the open clusters Berkeley 24 (Be 24) and Czernik 27 (Cz 27). The radii of the clusters are determined as 2|${^{\prime}_{.}}$|7 and 2|${^{\prime}_{.}}$|3 for Be 24 and Cz 27, respectively. We use the Gaia Data Release 2 (GDR2) catalogue to estimate the mean proper motions for the clusters. We found the mean proper motion of Be 24 as 0.35 ± 0.06 mas yr⁻¹ and 1.20 ± 0.08 mas yr⁻¹ in right ascension and declination for Be 24 and −0.52 ± 0.05 mas yr⁻¹ and −1.30 ± 0.05 mas yr⁻¹ for Cz 27. We used probable cluster members selected from proper motion data for the estimation of fundamental parameters. We infer reddenings E(B − V) = 0.45 ± 0.05 mag and 0.15 ± 0.05 mag for the two clusters. Analysis of extinction curves towards the two clusters show that both have normal interstellar extinction laws in the optical as well as in the near-IR band. From the ultraviolet excess measurement, we derive metallicities of [Fe/H] = −0.025 ± 0.01 dex and −0.042 ± 0.01 dex for the clusters Be 24 and Cz 27, respectively. The distances, as determined from main sequence fitting, are 4.4 ± 0.5 kpc and 5.6 ± 0.2 kpc. The comparison of observed CMDs with Z = 0.01 isochrones, leads to an age of 2.0 ± 0.2 Gyr and 0.6 ± 0.1 Gyr for Be 24 and Cz 27, respectively. In addition to this, we have also studied the mass function and dynamical state of these two clusters for the first time using probable cluster members. The mass function is derived after including the corrections for data incompleteness and field star contamination. Our analysis shows that both clusters are now dynamically relaxed.

We present a comprehensive analysis (photometric and kinematical) of the poorly studied open cluster NGC 4337 using 2MASS, WISE, APASS, and Gaia DR2 databases. By determining the membership probabilities of stars, we identified the 624 most probable members with membership probability higher than 50% by using proper motion and parallax data taken from Gaia DR2. The mean proper motion of the cluster is obtained as and μ _y = 1.49 ± 0.006 mas yr⁻¹. We find the normal interstellar extinction toward the cluster region. The radial distribution of members provides a cluster radius of 7.′75 (5.63 pc). The estimated age of 1600 ± 180 Myr indicates that NGC 4337 is an old open cluster with a bunch of red giant stars. The overall mass function slope for main-sequence stars is found as within the mass range 0.75−2.0 , which is in fair agreement with Salpeter’s value (x = 1.35) within uncertainty. The present study demonstrates that NGC 4337 is a dynamically relaxed open cluster. Using the Galactic potential model, Galactic orbits are obtained for NGC 4337. We found that this object follows a circular path around the Galactic center. Under the kinematical analysis, we compute the apex coordinates (A, D) by using two methods: (i) the classical convergent point method and (ii) the AD-diagram method. The obtained coordinates are (A _conv, D _conv) = (96.°27 ± 0.°10, 13.°14 ± 0.°27) and (A _◦, D _◦) = (100.°282 ± 0.°10, 9.°577 ± 0.°323) respectively. We also computed the Velocity Ellipsoid Parameters, matrix elements (μ _ij ), direction cosines (l _j , m _j , n _j ), and the Galactic longitude of the vertex (l ₂).

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of two pairs of binary clusters (NGC 5617 and Trumpler 22) and (NGC 3293 and NGC 3324) located in the fourth quadrant of our Galaxy. For this purpose, we use different data taken from VVV survey, WISE, VPHAS, APASS, and GLIMPSE along with Gaia EDR3 astrometric data. We identified 584, 429, 692, and 273 most probable cluster members with membership probability higher than |$80 {{\ \rm per\ cent}}$| towards the region of the clusters NGC 5617, Trumpler 22, NGC 3293, and NGC 3324. We estimated the value of |$R=\frac{A_{V}}{E(B-V)}$| as ∼3.1 for the clusters NGC 5617 and Trumpler 22, which indicates the normal extinction law. The values of |$R\, \sim 3.8$| and ∼1.9 represent the abnormal extinction law towards the clusters NGC 3293 and NGC 3324. Our kinematical analysis shows that all these clusters have circular orbits. Ages are found to be 90 ± 10 and 12 ± 3 Myr for the cluster pairs (NGC 5617 and Trumpler 22) and (NGC 3293 and NGC 3324), respectively. The distances of 2.43 ± 0.08, 2.64 ± 0.07, 2.59 ± 0.1, and 2.80 ± 0.2 kpc estimated using parallax are consistent with the values calculated by using the distance modulus. We have also identified 18 and 44 young stellar object candidates present in NGC 5617 and Trumpler 22, respectively. Mass function slopes are found to be in fair agreement with the Salpeter’s value. The dynamical study of these objects shows a lack of faint stars in their inner regions, which leads to the mass-segregation effect. Our study indicates that NGC 5617 and Trumpler 22 are dynamically relaxed but the other pair of clusters are not. Orbital along with the physical parameters show that the clusters in both pairs are physically connected.

We present an investigation of NGC 2158 using Gaia DR2 data. We identified 800 most likely cluster members with membership probability higher than 90%. The mean proper motions of this object are determined as (μ _x = −0.203 ± 0.003, μ _y = −1.99 ± 0.004) mas yr⁻¹. The limiting radius, log(age), and distance of the cluster are obtained as 23.5 arcmin, 9.38 ± 0.04 Gyr, and 4.69 ± 0.22 kpc, respectively. The overall mass function slope (0.93 ± 0.14) is flatter than the Salpeter value (1.35) within the mass range of 1.17–1.44 M _⊙. This cluster also shows the mass-segregation effect and our study demonstrates that NGC 2158 is a dynamically relaxed open cluster. Using the apex diagram (AD), the apex coordinates of the cluster are obtained in different ways and are examined using the (μ _U ,μ _T ) diagram. The best value of the apex coordinates is determined as A = 8724 ± 160, D = −3661 ± 530. We also determined the orbit of the cluster and found that NGC 2158 moves almost in the solar antapex direction. The resulting spatial velocity of NGC 2158 is 51 km s⁻¹. A significant oscillation along the Z-coordinate up to 529 pc is detected. Various scenarios regarding the origin of this cluster are also discussed.

This paper describes recent studies of the FS CMa-type objects, a group of stars showing the B[e] phenomenon defined in 2007. The objects exhibit strong emission-line spectra with both permitted and forbidden lines suggesting the presence of a B-type star as well as strong IR excesses due to radiation of circumstellar dust. These properties are hard to explain in the framework of the evolution of single stars with luminosities between ~300 and ~30,000 L_⊙ typical of most B-type stars. We explore the hypothesis that the gaseous-and-dusty envelopes of FS CMa objects are due to either earlier or ongoing mass transfer between the binary system components. It is hard to detect the secondary components in these systems because of veiling and distortions by the circumstellar matter because of the relative faintness of the companions. Nevertheless, we detected regular radial velocity variations of the spectral lines in MWC 728, 3 Pup, and AS 386 and we found absorption lines typical of cool stars in the spectra of MWC 645, AS 174, and several other objects. The diversity of the secondary components in FS CMa objects is discussed in the context of non-conservative binary evolution.