Recent studies using Gaia data have reported tidal tail detections for tens to hundreds of open clusters. However, a comprehensive assessment of the reliability and completeness of these detections is lacking. This work aims to summarise the expected properties of tidal tails based on N-body simulations, review the reliability of tidal tail detections in the literature, and grade them according to a set of diagnostic tests. We used a grid of 68-20000M_{sun}_ simulated clusters and analysed the formation and evolution of the tails. We compiled 122 catalogues (58 unique clusters) from literature, within 500pc of the Sun. We employed tests based on photometric, morphological and dynamical signatures, and comparisons with simulations, to grade their tails. Based on the simulations, we analysed the complex morphology of the tails and their properties (e.g., size, span, stellar types, number density, and mass function) at various cluster masses and ages. During the first 200Myr of evolution, the tails typically form a characteristic S shape, with an amplitude that scales with cluster mass. The tail span increases at a rate of 4 times the initial velocity dispersion, and the near- tail is predominantly populated by recent escapees. In the 122 published tail catalogues, we found that 15 gold and 55 silver catalogues passed the majority of the tests. The remaining 51 were graded as bronze; care should be taken before using these for further analysis. The age, metallicity, binary fraction, and mass function of stars in the tails were generally consistent with those of their parent clusters. The gold/silver catalogues (69 catalogues of 40 clusters) represent reliable samples for detailed analyses of tails. Future data will be essential for further validation and for leveraging tidal tails as tracers of cluster dissolution and the Galactic potential.

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/704/A50/clusters (Cluster properties)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/704/A50/sources (Stellar properties)