SIMBAD references

2015ApJ...807..174S - Astrophys. J., 807, 174 (2015/July-2)

Older and colder: the impact of starspots on pre-main-sequence stellar evolution.

SOMERS G. and PINSONNEAULT M.H.

Abstract (from CDS):

We assess the impact of starspots on the evolution of late-type stars during the pre-main sequence (pre-MS) using a modified stellar evolution code. We find that heavily spotted models of mass 0.1-1.2 M are inflated by up to 10% during the pre-MS, and up to 4% and 9% for fully and partially convective stars at the zero-age MS, consistent with measurements from active eclipsing binary systems. Spots similarly decrease stellar luminosity and, causing isochrone-derived masses to be underestimated by up to a factor of, and ages to be underestimated by a factor of 2-10, at 3 Myr. Consequently, pre-MS clusters and their active stars are systematically older and more massive than often reported. Cluster ages derived with the lithium depletion boundary technique are erroneously young by ∼15% and 10% at 30 and 100 Myr, respectively, if stars with 50% spots are interpreted with unspotted models. Finally, lithium depletion is suppressed in spotted stars with radiative cores, leading to a fixed-temperature lithium dispersion on the MS if a range of spot properties are present on the pre-MS. Such dispersions are large enough to explain Li abundance spreads seen in young open clusters, and imply a range of radii at fixed mass and age during the pre-MS Li-burning epoch. By extension, this implies that mass, composition, and age do not uniquely specify the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram location of pre-MS stars.

Abstract Copyright:

Journal keyword(s): stars: activity - stars: evolution - stars: pre-main sequence - starspots

Simbad objects: 9

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