Issue |
A&A
Volume 590, June 2016
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | A94 | |
Number of page(s) | 13 | |
Section | Astrophysical processes | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201527583 | |
Published online | 20 May 2016 |
Mass effect on the lithium abundance evolution of open clusters: Hyades, NGC 752, and M 67
1 Departamento de Física Teórica e ExperimentalUniversidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 59072-970 Natal, RN, Brazil
e-mail: mcastro@dfte.ufrn.br
2 Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciência do Espaço, Universidade do Porto, Rua das Estrelas, 4150-762 Porto, Portugal
3 Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Received: 16 October 2015
Accepted: 12 March 2016
Lithium abundances in open clusters provide an effective way of probing mixing processes in the interior of solar-type stars and convection is not the only mixing mechanism at work. To understand which mixing mechanisms are occurring in low-mass stars, we test non-standard models, which were calibrated using the Sun, with observations of three open clusters of different ages, the Hyades, NGC 752, and M 67. We collected all available data, and for the open cluster NGC 752, we redetermine the equivalent widths and the lithium abundances. Two sets of evolutionary models were computed, one grid of only standard models with microscopic diffusion and one grid with rotation-induced mixing, at metallicity [Fe/H] = 0.13, 0.0, and 0.01 dex, respectively, using the Toulouse-Geneva evolution code. We compare observations with models in a color–magnitude diagram for each cluster to infer a cluster age and a stellar mass for each cluster member. Then, for each cluster we analyze the lithium abundance of each star as a function of mass. The data for the open clusters Hyades, NGC 752, and M 67, are compatible with lithium abundance being a function of both age and mass for stars in these clusters. Our models with meridional circulation qualitatively reproduce the general trend of lithium abundance evolution as a function of stellar mass in all three clusters. This study points out the importance of mass dependence in the evolution of lithium abundance as a function of age. Comparison between models with and without rotation-induced mixing shows that the inclusion of meridional circulation is essential to account for lithium depletion in low-mass stars. However, our results suggest that other mechanisms should be included to explain the Li-dip and the lithium dispersion in low-mass stars.
Key words: stars: fundamental parameters / stars: abundances / stars: evolution / stars: interiors / stars: solar-type
© ESO, 2016
Current usage metrics show cumulative count of Article Views (full-text article views including HTML views, PDF and ePub downloads, according to the available data) and Abstracts Views on Vision4Press platform.
Data correspond to usage on the plateform after 2015. The current usage metrics is available 48-96 hours after online publication and is updated daily on week days.
Initial download of the metrics may take a while.