Rotating Rates of Late-Type Stars in Open Clusters 300Myr-1Gyr Old

Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff AZ

Investigators

Abstract

9986962 Dr. Barnes will undertake an extensive survey of nearby stellar clusters whose goal is to determine the dependence of rotation rate on stellar mass and age. The rotation periods will be determined for solar-type stars in carefully selected clusters with ages ranging from 300 million years to 1 billion years using photometric observations with a precision of better than one percent. The observational results will be compared to models for the rotational evolution of stars, not only with respect to age and mass, but also to other properties such as the degree of interaction between stars and their circumstellar disks. This project is likely to provide new insight into the role of magnetic disk locking between slow and fast rotation zones, the incidence of solid versus differential rotation, and magnetic saturation. These issues directly contribute to our understanding of the interplay between the Sun's rotation and activity level. Funding for this project is provided by the NSF program for Stellar Astronomy & Astrophysics (AST/SAA).