We conduct a study of K to M type stars to investigate the activity and the rotation limit in the Hyades. We use a sample of 40 stars in this intermediate-age cluster (~625 Myr) to probe stellar rotation in the threshold region where stellar activity becomes prevalent. Here we present projected equatorial velocities (vsin i) and chromospheric activity measurements (Hα) that indicate the existence of fast rotators in the Hyades at spectral types where also the fraction of stars with Hα emission shows a rapid increase ("Hα limit"). The locus of enhanced rotation (and activity) thus seems to be shifted to earlier types in contrast to what is seen as the rotation limit in field stars. The relation between activity and rotation appears to be similar to the one observed in fields stars.
We present the results from a systematic study of temporal variation of stellar activity in young late-type stars. We used multi-epoch LAMOST low-resolution spectra of over 300 member candidates in three young open clusters: Pleiades, Praesepe, and Hyades. The spectral measurements of TiO band strength near 7050 Å (TiO2) and equivalent width of Hα line (EW Hα ) are used as the tracers of cool-spot coverage and chromospheric emission strength, respectively. The analysis of time-variation patterns of these two tracers suggested there exist detectable variabilities in TiO2 and EW Hα , and their t…
The Hyades, Praesepe, and Pleiades are well studied stellar clusters that anchor important secondary stellar age indicators. Recent studies have shown that main sequence turn off-based ages for these clusters may depend on the degree of rotation in the underlying stellar models. Rotation induces structural instabilities that can enhance the chemical mixing of a star, extending its fuel supply. In addition, rotation introduces a modulation of the star's observed magnitude and color due to the effects of gravity darkening. We aim to investigate the extent to which stellar rotation affects the ag…
We analyze K2 light curves for 132 low-mass ($1\ \gtrsim\ M_*\ \gtrsim\ 0.1$~${M_{\odot}}$) members of the 600--800~Myr-old Hyades cluster and measure rotation periods ($P_{rot}$) for 116 of these stars. These include 93 stars with no prior $P_{rot}$ measurement; the total number of Hyads with known $P_{rot}$ is now 232. We then combine literature binary data with Gaia DR2 photometry and astrometry to select single star sequences in the Hyades and its roughly coeval Praesepe open cluster, and derive a new reddening value of $A_V = 0.035$$\pm$$0.011$ for Praesepe. Comparing the effective temper…
We determine the exact physical parameters of the four Hyades cluster K giants, using their parallaxes and atmospheric modeling of our red-channel TIGRE high-resolution spectra. Performing a comparison with well-tested evolutionary tracks, we derive exact masses and evolutionary stages. At an age of 588 ($\pm 60$) Myrs and with a metallicity of Z=0.03 (consistent with the spectroscopic abundances), we find HD~27371 and HD~28307, the two less bright K giants, at the onset of central helium-burning, entering their blue loops with a mass of 2.62 $M_{\odot}$, while the slightly brighter stars HD~2…
We fit the upper main sequence of the Praesepe and Hyades open clusters using stellar models with and without rotation. When neglecting rotation, we find that no single isochrone can fit the entire upper main sequence at the clusters' spectroscopic metallicity: more massive stars appear, at high significance, to be younger than less massive stars. This discrepancy is consistent with earlier studies, but vanishes when including stellar rotation. The entire upper main sequence of both clusters is very well-fit by a distribution of 800 Myr-old stars with the spectroscopically measured [Fe/H]=0.12…
We combine recently computed models of stellar evolution using a new treatment of rotation with a Bayesian statistical framework to constrain the ages and other properties of early-type stars. We find good agreement for early-type stars and clusters with known young ages, including beta Pictoris, the Pleiades, and the Ursa Majoris Moving Group. However, we derive a substantially older age for the Hyades open cluster (750+/-100 Myr compared to 625+/-50 Myr). This older age results from both the increase in main-sequence lifetime with stellar rotation and from the fact that rotating models near …
Open clusters are collections of stars with a single, well-determined age, and can be used to investigate the connections between angular-momentum evolution and magnetic activity over a star's lifetime. We present the results of a comparative study of the relationship between stellar rotation and activity in two benchmark open clusters: Praesepe and the Hyades. As they have the same age and roughly solar metallicity, these clusters serve as an ideal laboratory for testing the agreement between theoretical and empirical rotation-activity relations at $\approx$600 Myr. We have compiled a sample …
Radius inflation continues to be explored as a peculiar occurrence among magnetically active, low-mass stars. Recently Somers et. al. 2017 showed that radius inflation among low-mass stars in the young open cluster M45 (Pleiades Cluster) is correlated to the rotation rate: faster rotators are more inflated. Here we extend that work to a sample of 68 stars of the older open Hyades Cluster. We derive the stars' spectral energy distributions to measure their bolometric fluxes. With spectroscopically defined $T_{\rm eff}$ and {\it Gaia\/} distances we calculate stellar radii using the Stefan-Boltz…
We investigate photometric variations due to stellar activity which induce systematic radial-velocity errors (so-called "jitter") for the four targets in the Hyades open cluster observed by the K2 mission (EPIC 210721261, EPIC 210923016, EPIC 247122957, and EPIC 247783757). Applying Gaussian process regressions to the K2 light curves and the near-infrared (NIR) light curves observed with the IRSF 1.4-m telescope, we derive the wavelength dependences of the photometric signals due to stellar activity. To estimate the temporal variations in the photometric variability amplitudes between the two …
X-ray observations of low-mass stars in open clusters are critical to understanding the dependence of magnetic activity on stellar properties and their evolution. Praesepe and the Hyades, two of the nearest, most-studied open clusters, are among the best available laboratories for examining the dependence of magnetic activity on rotation for stars with masses lower than $\approx 1\ M_{\odot}$. We present an updated study of the rotation X-ray activity relation in the two clusters. We updated membership catalogs that combine pre-Gaia catalogs with new catalogs based on Gaia Data Release 2. The …
Our aim is to identify brown dwarf members of the nearby Hyades open star cluster to determine the photometric and spectroscopic properties of brown dwarfs at moderately old ages and extend the knowledge of the substellar mass function of the cluster. We cross-matched the 2MASS and AllWISE public catalogues and measured proper motions to identify low-mass stars and brown dwarf candidates in an area of radius eight degrees around the central region of the Hyades cluster. We identified objects with photometry and proper motions consistent with cluster membership. For the faintest ($J$\,=\,17.2 m…
We revisit the X-ray properties of the main-sequence Hyades members and the relation between X-ray emission and stellar rotation. As input catalog for Hyades members, we combined three recent membership lists derived from Gaia DR2 data including the Hyades core and its tidal tails. We searched for X-ray detections from the ROSAT all-sky survey (RASS) and pointings from ROSAT, Chandra, and XMM-Newton of the Hyades members and adopted rotation periods derived from Kepler's K2 mission and other resources. We find an X-ray detection for 281 of 1066 bona fide main-sequence Hyades members and provid…
We present a high-precision chemical analysis of iota Horologii, a planet-host field star thought to have formed in the Hyades. Elements with atomic number 6<=Z<=30 have abundances that are in excellent agreement with those of the cluster within the +/-0.01 dex (or ~2%) precision errors. Heavier elements show a range of abundances such that about half of the Z>30 species analyzed are consistent with those of the Hyades, while the other half are marginally enhanced by 0.03+/-0.01 dex (~7+/-2%). The lithium abundance, A(Li), is very low compared to the well-defined A(Li)-Teff relation of the clu…
Flares, energetic eruptions on the surfaces of stars, are an unmistakable manifestation of magnetically driven emission. Their occurrence rates and energy distributions trace stellar characteristics such as mass and age. But before flares can be used to constrain stellar properties, the flaring-age-mass relation requires proper calibration. This work sets out to quantify flaring activity of independently age-dated main sequence stars for a broad range of spectral types using optical light curves obtained by the Kepler satellite. Drawing from the complete K2 archive, we searched 3435 $\sim 80$ …
Dramatic deficiencies of Li in the mid-F dwarf stars of the Hyades cluster were discovered by Boesgaard & Tripicco. Boesgaard & King discovered corresponding, but smaller, deficiencies in Be in the same narrow temperature region in the Hyades. With the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope we investigate B abundances in the Hyades F stars to look for a potential B dip using the B I resonance line at 2496.8 A. The light elements, Li, Be, and B, are destroyed inside stars at increasingly hotter temperatures: 2.5, 3.5, and 5x10^6 K respectively. Consequently, these el…
V471 Tau is a post-common-envelope binary consisting of an eclipsing DA white dwarf and a K-type main-sequence star in the Hyades star cluster. We analyzed publicly available photometry and spectroscopy of V471 Tau to revise the stellar and orbital parameters of the system. We used archival K2 photometry, archival Hubble Space Telescope spectroscopy, and published radial-velocity measurements of the K-type star. Employing Gaussian processes to fit for rotational modulation of the system flux by the main-sequence star, we recovered the transits of the white dwarf in front of the main-sequence s…
TESS flares and chromospheric variability in the Pleiades, the Hyades, and Praesepe
Konkoly Observatory, HUN-REN Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences（孔科利天文台，匈牙利研究与创新学院地球科学与天文学研究中心）；CSFK, MTA Centre of Excellence（CSFK，匈牙利科学院卓越中心）；Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Physics and Astronomy, Department of Astronomy（罗兰大学，物理与天文学研究所，天文学系）
An investigation of chromospheric activity spanning the Vaughan--Preston gap: impact on stellar ages
色球活动被广泛用作太阳型恒星的年龄指标，其依据是早期证据表明，从年轻和活跃的恒星到年老和不活跃的恒星会有一个平稳的演化过程。我们分析了两个疏散星团中五颗太阳型恒星的色球活动，以研究色球活动如何随时间演变。我们拍摄了IC 4756中3颗星和NGC 5822中2颗星的UVES高分辨率、高信噪比光谱，并结合以前研究的数据集进行了重新分析。深层光球Ca II K线的发射核心被用作色球活动的探测器。新样本中的所有5颗恒星，包括1.2 Gyr-old NGC 5822中的恒星，其活动水平与毕宿二和Praesepe相当。对我们的数据的一个可能的解释是，太阳型恒星的色球活动，从毕星团的年龄到太阳的年龄，并没有平稳地演变。恒星从活跃到不活跃的变化是在很短的时间尺度上发生的。这种转变前后的演变远不如周期性和长期变化那么重要。我们表明，文献中提出的数据，以支持年龄和活动之间的相关性，也可以根据我们的研究结果进行不同的解释。
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 M67. 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 …
Using standard 1D-LTE model atmosphere analysis, we provide an in-depth investigation of iron abundance as derived from neutral and singly ionization iron lines (Fe {\scriptsize{I, II}}) in nearby star clusters. Specifically, we replicate the discrepancy regarding $Δ$[Fe/H], wherein the difference of Fe {\scriptsize{II}} - Fe {\scriptsize{I}} increases for stars of the same cluster with decreasing $T_\mathrm{eff}$, reaching an astonishing 1.0 dex at $T_\mathrm{eff}$ $\thicksim$ 4000 K. Previous studies have investigated this anomaly in the Pleiades and Hyades clusters with no concrete solution…
We use the LAMOST spectra of member stars in Pleiades, M34, Praesepe, and Hyades to study how chromospheric activity vary as a function of mass and rotation at different age. We measured excess equivalent widths of H$α$, H$β$, and Ca~{\sc ii} K based on estimated chromospheric contributions from old and inactive field dwarfs, and excess luminosities are obtained by normalizing bolometric luminosity, for more than 700 late-type stars in these open clusters. Results indicate two activity sequences in cool spot coverage and H$α$ excess emission among GK dwarfs in Pleiades and M dwarfs in Praesepe…
We study the accuracy of spectroscopic RVs by comparing spectroscopic and astrometric RVs for stars of the Hyades open cluster. Rather accurate astrometric RVs are available for the Hyades' stars, based on Hipparcos and on the first Gaia data release. We obtained HARPS spectra for a large sample of Hyades stars, and homogeneously analysed them. After cleaning the sample from binaries, RV variables, and outliers, 71 stars remained. The distribution of the observed RV difference (spectroscopic -- astrometric) is skewed and depends on the star right ascension. This is consistent with the Hyades c…
The precision of the Gaia data offers a unique opportunity to study the internal velocity field of star clusters. We develop and validate a forward-modelling method for the internal motions of stars in a cluster. The model allows an anisotropic velocity dispersion matrix and linear velocity gradient describing rotation and shear, combines radial velocities available for a subset of stars, and accounts for contamination from background sources via a mixture model. We apply the method to Gaia DR2 data of the Hyades cluster and its tidal tails, dividing and comparing the kinematics of stars withi…
The tidal tails of stellar clusters provide an important tool for studying the birth conditions of the clusters and their evolution, coupling, and interaction with the Galactic potential. We present the N-body evolution of a Hyades-like stellar cluster with backward-integrated initial conditions on a realistic 3D orbit in the Milky Way computed within the AMUSE framework. For the first time, we explore the effect of the initial cluster rotation and the presence of lumps in the Galactic potential on the formation and evolution of tidal tails. We show that the tidal tails are not naturally clust…
The surface abundances of the light elements lithium (Li) and beryllium (Be) reveal information about the physical processes taking place in stellar interiors. The investigation of the amount of these two elements in stars in open clusters shows the effect of age on those mechanisms. We have obtained spectra of both Li and Be in main-sequence stars in NGC 752 at high spectral resolution and high signal-to-noise ratios with HIRES on the Keck I telescope. In order to make meaningful comparisons with other clusters, we have determined the stellar parameters on a common scale. We have found abunda…
Coma Berenices (Coma Ber), an open cluster about the same age as Praesepe and the Hyades (700-800 Myr) is, despite being only 85 pc away, less well studied than its famous cousins. This is due principally to its sparseness and low proper motion, which together made Coma Ber's membership challenging to establish pre-Gaia. We have curated a new list of its members based on Gaia DR2 astrometry, derived its metallicity and interstellar reddening using LAMOST data, and inferred the cluster's age by fitting PARSEC isochrones to its color$-$magnitude diagram. We then measured rotation periods for Com…
As the closest open cluster to the Sun, the Hyades is an important benchmark for many stellar properties, but its members are also scattered widely over the sky. Previous studies of stellar rotation in the Hyades relied on targeted observations of single stars or data from shallower all-sky variability surveys. The re-purposed Kepler mission, K2, is the first opportunity to measure rotation periods ($P_{rot}$) for many Hyads simultaneously while also being sensitive to fully convective M dwarf members. We analyze K2 data for 65 Hyads and present $P_{rot}$ values for 48. Thirty-seven of these a…
Studies of the rotation-activity relation of late-type stars are essential to enhance our understanding of stellar dynamos and angular momentum evolution. We study the rotation-activity relation with K2 for M dwarfs where it is especially poorly understood. We analyzed the light curves of all bright and nearby M dwarfs form the Superblink proper motion catalog that were in the K2 field of view. For a sample of 430 M dwarfs observed in campaigns C0-C19 in long cadence mode we determined the rotation period and a wealth of activity diagnostics. Our study of the rotation-activity relation based o…
The sunspot position from Greenwich Photoheliographic Results (GPR), US Air Force Solar Optical Observing Network and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (USAF/NOAA), and Debrecen Photoheliographic Data (DPD) data bases in the period 1874 to 2016 were used to calculate yearly values of the solar differential-rotation parameters $A$ and $B$. The calculated differential-rotation parameters were compared with the solar-activity level. We found that the Sun rotates more differentially at the minimum than at the maximum of activity during the 1977 - 2016 epoch. An inverse correlation be…
Characterising the long-term evolution of magnetic activity on Sun-like stars is important not only for stellar physics but also for understanding the environment in which planets evolve. In the past decades, many photometric surveys of open clusters have produced extensive rotation period measurements on Sun-like stars of different ages. I use these data to infer the long-term evolution of Ca II chromospheric and X-ray coronal emission on solar mass stars combining a best fit parametric model of their rotation evolution with empirical rotation-activity relationships.
The connection between stellar rotation, stellar activity, and convective turnover time is revisited with a focus on the sole contribution of magnetic activity to the Ca II H&K emission, the so-called excess flux, and its dimensionless indicator R$^{+}_{\rm{HK}}$ in relation to other stellar parameters and activity indicators. Our study is based on a sample of 169 main-sequence stars with directly measured Mount Wilson S-indices and rotation periods. The R$^{+}_{\rm{HK}}$ values are derived from the respective S-indices and related to the rotation periods in various $B-V$-colour intervals. Fir…
During the solar magnetic activity cycle the emergence latitudes of sunspots change, leading to the well-known butterfly diagram. This phenomenon is poorly understood for other stars as starspot latitudes are generally unknown. The related changes in starspot rotation rates caused by latitudinal differential rotation can however be measured. Using the set of 3093 Kepler stars with activity cycles identified by Reinhold et al. (2017), we aim to study the temporal change in starspot rotation rates over magnetic activity cycles, and how this relates to the activity level, mean rotation rate, and …
The magnetic activity of late-type stars is correlated with their rotation rates. Up to a certain limit, stars with smaller Rossby numbers, defined as the rotation period divided by the convective turnover time, have higher activity. A more detailed look at this rotation-activity relation reveals that, rather than being a simple power law relation, the activity scaling has a shallower slope for the low-Rossby stars than for the high-Rossby ones. We find that, for the chromospheric CaII H&K activity, this scaling relation is well modelled by a broken two-piece power law. Furthermore, the knee-p…
Brightness variations due to dark spots on the stellar surface encode information about stellar surface rotation and magnetic activity. In this work, we analyze the Kepler long-cadence data of 26,521 main-sequence stars of spectral types M and K in order to measure their surface rotation and photometric activity level. Rotation-period estimates are obtained by the combination of a wavelet analysis and autocorrelation function of the light curves. Reliable rotation estimates are determined by comparing the results from the different rotation diagnostics and four data sets. We also measure the p…
High precision photometry of solar-like members of the open cluster M67 with Kepler/K2 data has recently revealed enhanced activity for stars with a large Rossby number, which is the ratio of rotation period to the convective turnover time. Contrary to the well established behavior for shorter rotation periods and smaller Rossby numbers, the chromospheric activity of the more slowly rotating stars of M67 was found to increase with increasing Rossby number. Such behavior has never been reported before, although it was theoretically predicted to emerge as a consequence of antisolar differential …
We present spectroscopic and photometric analysis of KIC\,9451096, where the latter is based on very high precision long cadence photometry obtained by $Kepler$ space craft. Combined spectroscopic and photometric modeling show that the system is a detached eclipsing binary in a circular orbit and composed of F5V + K2V components. Subtracting the best--fit light curve model from whole long cadence data reveals additional low (mmag) amplitude light variation in time and occasional flares, suggesting low, but still remarkable level of magnetic spot activity on the K2V component. Analyzing rotatio…
The relation between magnetic activity and rotation in late-type stars provides fundamental information on stellar dynamos and angular momentum evolution. Rotation/activity studies found in the literature suffer from inhomogeneity in the measure of activity indexes and rotation periods. We overcome this limitation with a study of the X-ray emitting late-type main-sequence stars observed by XMM-Newton and Kepler. We measure rotation periods from photometric variability in Kepler light curves. As activity indicators, we adopt the X-ray luminosity, the number frequency of white-light flares, the …
We study the relation between stellar rotation and magnetic activity for a sample of 134 bright, nearby M dwarfs observed in the Kepler Two-Wheel (K2) mission during campaigns C0 to C4. The K2 lightcurves yield photometrically derived rotation periods for 97 stars (79 of which without previous period measurement), as well as various measures for activity related to cool spots and flares. We find a clear difference between fast and slow rotators with a dividing line at a period of ~10d at which the activity level changes abruptly. All photometric diagnostics of activity (spot cycle amplitude, f…
We report on the abundance analysis of Li in solar-type (G-type main sequence) superflare stars which were found by the analysis of Kepler photometric data. Li is a key element to understand the evolution of the stellar convection zone which reflects the age of solar-type stars. We performed the high dispersion spectroscopy of solar-type superflare stars with Subaru/HDS, and confirmed that 34 stars show no evidence of binarity in our previous study. In this study, we derived the Li abundances of these 34 objects. We investigate correlations of Li abundance with stellar atmospheric parameters, …
We study turbulent generation of large-scale magnetic fields using nonlinear dynamo models for solar-type stars in the range of rotational periods from 14 to 30 days. Our models take into account non-linear effects of dynamical quenching of magnetic helicity, and escape of magnetic field from the dynamo region due to magnetic buoyancy. The results show that the observed correlation between the period of rotation and the duration of activity cycles can be explained in the framework of a distributed dynamo model with a dynamical magnetic feedback acting on the turbulent generation either from ma…
Stellar clusters are open windows to understand stellar evolution. Specifically, the change with time and the dependence on mass of different stellar properties. As such, they are our laboratories where different theories can be tested. We try to understand the origin of the connection between lithium depletion in F, G and K stars, rotation and activity, in particular in the Pleiades open cluster. We have collected all the relevant data in the literature, including information regarding rotation period, binarity and activity, and cross-matched with proper motions, multi-wavelength photometry a…
