What is the final designation for members of an Open Cluster after tidal stripping disperses the group?
Answer
Field stars.
The natural endpoint for every gravitationally disrupted open cluster is its complete dissolution into the general stellar population of the galaxy. As the cluster loses its members due to internal motions and external tidal forces, the stars that drift too far apart to remain mutually bound are classified as field stars. Field stars are defined as those stars in the galaxy that are no longer gravitationally associated with any specific group or cluster, representing the baseline population spread throughout the galactic disk.
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