No Arabic abstract
We intended to compile the most complete catalog of bona fide members and candidate members of the beta Pictoris association, and to measure their rotation periods and basic properties from our own observations, public archives, and exploring the literature. We carried out a multi-observatories campaign to get our own photometric time series and collected all archived public photometric data time series for the stars in our catalog. Each time series was analyzed with the Lomb-Scargle and CLEAN periodograms to search for the stellar rotation periods. We complemented the measured rotational properties with detailed information on multiplicity, membership, and projected rotational velocity available in the literature and discussed star by star. We measured the rotation periods of 112 out of 117 among bona fide members and candidate members of the beta Pictoris association and, whenever possible, we also measured the luminosity, radius, and inclination of the stellar rotation axis. This represents to date the largest catalog of rotation periods of any young loose stellar association. We provided an extensive catalog of rotation periods together with other relevant basic properties useful to explore a number of open issues, such as the causes of spread of rotation periods among coeval stars, evolution of angular momentum, and lithium-rotation connection.
Low-mass members of young stellar associations exhibit a wide spread of rotation periods. Such a spread originates from distributions of masses and initial rotation periods. However, multiplicity can also play a significant role. We investigate the role played by physical companions in shortening the primordial disc lifetime. We have compiled the most extensive list of low-mass members of the young 25-Myr beta Pictoris association. We have measured the rotation periods of about all members and used updated UVWXYZ components to assess their membership. We built the rotation period distribution distinguishing between bona fide members and candidate members and according to their multiplicity status. We found that single stars and components of multiple systems in wide orbits (>80 AU) have rotation periods that exhibit a well defined sequence arising from mass distribution. All components of multiple systems in close orbits (<80 AU) have rotation periods significantly shorter than their equal-mass single counterparts. A comparison with the younger 13 Myr h Per cluster and with the older 40-Myr open clusters/stellar associations NGC2547, IC2391, Argus, and IC2602 and the 130-Myr Pleiades shows that whereas the evolution of F-G stars is well reproduced by angular momentum evolution models, this is not the case for the slow K and early-M stars. Finally, we found that the amplitude of their light curves is correlated neither with rotation nor with mass. Once single stars and wide components of multiple systems are separated from close components of multiple systems, the rotation period distributions exhibit a well defined dependence on mass that allows to make a meaningful comparison with similar distributions of either younger or older associations/clusters. Such cleaned distributions allow to use the stellar rotation period as age indicator, meaningfully for F and G type stars.
Optical spectroscopic observations are reported for 24 and 23, nearby, proper-motion-selected M-dwarf candidate members of the Beta Pictoris and AB Doradus moving groups (BPMG and ABDMG). Using kinematic criteria, the presence of both Halpha emission and high X-ray-to-bolometric luminosity, and position in absolute colour-magnitude diagrams, 10 and 6 of these candidates are confirmed as likely members of the BPMG and ABDMG respectively. Equivalent widths or upper limits for the Li I 6708A line are reported and the lithium depletion boundary (LDB) age of the BPMG is revisited. Whilst non-magnetic evolutionary models still yield an estimated age of 21 +/- 4 Myr, models that incorporate magnetic inhibition of convection imply an older age of 24 +/- 4 Myr. A similar systematic increase would be inferred if the stars were 25 per cent covered by dark magnetic starspots. Since young, convective M-dwarfs are magnetically active and do have starspots, we suggest that the original LDB age estimate is a lower limit. The LDB age of the ABDMG is still poorly constrained -- non-magnetic evolutionary models suggest an age in the range 35-150 Myr, which could be significantly tightened by new measurements for existing candidate members.
In the last decades, the early pre main sequence stellar rotational evolution picture has been constrained by studies targeting different young regions at a variety of ages. Observational studies suggest a mass-rotation dependence, and for some mass ranges a connection between rotation and the presence of a circumstellar disk. Not still fully explored, though, is the role of environmental conditions on the rotational regulation. We investigate the rotational properties of candidate members of the young massive association Cygnus OB2. The Stetson variability index, Lomb-Scargle periodogram, Saunders statistics, string/rope length method, and visual verification of folded light curves were applied to select 1224 periodic variable stars. Completeness and contamination of the periodic sample was derived from Monte Carlo simulations, out of which 894 periods were considered reliable. Our study was considered reasonably complete for periods from 2 to 30 days. The general rotational scenario seen in other young regions is confirmed by Cygnus OB2 period distributions, with disked stars rotating on average slower than non-disked stars. A mass-rotation dependence was also verified, but as in NGC 6530, lower mass stars are rotating on average slower than higher mass stars, with an excess of slow rotators among the lower mass population. The effect of the environment on the rotational properties of the association was investigated by re-analysing the results while taking into account the incident UV radiation arising from O stars in the association. Results compatible with the disk-locking scenario were verified for stars with low UV incidence, but no statistical significant relation between rotation and disk presence was verified for stars with high UV incidence suggesting that massive stars can have an important role on regulating the rotation of nearby low mass stars.
Although the Orion Nebula Cluster is one of the most studied clusters in the solar neighborhood, the evolution of the very low-mass members ($M_* < 0.25 , M_odot$) has not been fully addressed due to their faintness. Our goal is to verify if some young and very low-mass objects in the Orion Nebula Cluster show evidence of ongoing accretion using broadband VLT/X-Shooter spectra. For each target, we determined the corresponding stellar parameters, veiling, observed Balmer jump, and accretion rates. Additionally, we searched for the existence of circumstellar disks through available on-line photometry. We detected accretion activity in three young stellar objects in the Orion Nebula Cluster, two of them being in the very low-mass range. We also detected the presence of young transition disks with ages between 1 and 3.5 Myr.
The goal of this paper is to increase the membership list of the Chamaeleon star forming region and the $epsilon$ Cha moving group, in particular for low-mass stars and substellar objects. We extended the search region significantly beyond the dark clouds. Our sample has been selected based on proper motions and colours obtained from Gaia and 2MASS. We present and discuss the optical spectroscopic follow-up of 18 low-mass stellar objects in Cha I and $epsilon$ Cha. We characterize the properties of objects by deriving their physical parameters, both from spectroscopy and photometry. We add three more low-mass members to the list of Cha I, and increase the census of known $epsilon$ Cha members by more than 40%, confirming spectroscopically 13 new members and relying on X-ray emission as youth indicator for 2 more. In most cases the best-fitting spectral template is from objects in the TW Hya association, indicating that $epsilon$ Cha has a similar age. The first estimate of the slope of the initial mass function in $epsilon$ Cha down to the sub-stellar regime is consistent with that of other young clusters. We estimate our IMF to be complete down to $approx 0.03$M$_{odot}$. The IMF can be represented by two power laws: for M $<$ 0.5 M$_{odot}$ $alpha = 0.42 pm 0.11$ and for M $>$ 0.5 M$_{odot}$ $alpha = 1.44 pm 0.12$. We find similarities between $epsilon$ Cha and the southernmost part of Lower Centaurus Crux (LCC A0), both lying at similar distances and sharing the same proper motions. This suggests that $epsilon$ Cha and LCC A0 may have been born during the same star formation event