E. Tognelli

The Pisa pre-main sequence tracks and isochrones - A database covering a wide range of Z, Y, mass, and age values

Context. In recent years new observations of pre-main sequence stars (pre-MS) with Z≤ Z⊙ have been made available. To take full advantage of the continuously growing amount of data of pre-MS stars in different environments, we need to develop updated pre-MS models for a wide range of metallicity to assign reliable ages and masses to the observed stars. Aims. We present updated evolutionary pre-MS models and isochrones for a fine grid of mass, age, metallicity, and helium values . Methods. We use a standard and well-tested stellar evolutionary code (i.e. FRANEC), that adopts outer boundary conditions from detailed and realistic atmosphere models. In this code, we incorporate additional improvements to the physical inputs related to the equation of state and the low temperature radiative opacities essential to computing low-mass stellar models. Results. We make available via internet a large database of pre-MS tracks and isochrones for a wide range of chemical compositions (Z = 0.0002− 0.03), masses (M = 0.2− 7.0 M⊙), and ages (1− 100 Myr) for a solar-calibrated mixing length parameterα (i.e. 1.68). For each chemical composition, additional models were computed with two different mixing length values, namelyα = 1.2 and 1.9. Moreover, for Z≥ 0.008, we also provided models with two different initial deuterium abundances. The characteristics o f the models have been discussed in detail and compared with other work in the literature. The main uncertainties affecting theoretical predictions have been critically discussed. Comparisons with selected data indicate that there is close agreement between theory and observation.

INSTANTANEOUS STARBURST OF THE MASSIVE CLUSTERS WESTERLUND 1 AND NGC 3603 YC

We present a new method to determine the age spread of resolved stellar populations in a starburst cluster. The method relies on a two-step process. In the first step, kinematic members of the cluster are identified based on multi-epoch astrometric monitoring. In the second step, a Bayesian analysis is carried out, comparing the observed photometric sequence of cluster members with sets of theoretical isochrones. When applying this methodology to optical and near-infrared high angular resolution Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and adaptive optics observations of the ~5 Myr old starburst cluster Westerlund 1 and ~2 Myr old starburst cluster NGC 3603 YC, we derive upper limits for the age spreads of 0.4 and 0.1 Myr, respectively. The results strongly suggest that star formation in these starburst clusters happened almost instantaneously.

AN UPDATED 6Li(p, α)3He REACTION RATE AT ASTROPHYSICAL ENERGIES WITH THE TROJAN HORSE METHOD

The lithium problem influencing primordial and stellar nucleosynthesis is one of the most interesting unsolved issues in astrophysics. 6Li is the most fragile of lithiums stable isotopes and is largely destroyed in most stars during the pre-main-sequence (PMS) phase. For these stars, the convective envelope easily reaches, at least at its bottom, the relatively low 6Li ignition temperature. Thus, gaining an understanding of 6Li depletion also gives hints about the extent of convective regions. For this reason, charged-particle-induced reactions in lithium have been the subject of several studies. Low-energy extrapolations of these studies provide information about both the zero-energy astrophysical S(E) factor and the electron screening potential, Ue . Thanks to recent direct measurements, new estimates of the 6Li(p, ?)3He bare-nucleus S(E) factor and the corresponding Ue value have been obtained by applying the Trojan Horse method to the 2H(6Li, ? 3He)n reaction in quasi-free kinematics. The calculated reaction rate covers the temperature window 0.01 to 2T 9 and its impact on the surface lithium depletion in PMS models with different masses and metallicities has been evaluated in detail by adopting an updated version of the FRANEC evolutionary code.

7Li surface abundance in pre-main sequence stars - Testing theory against clusters and binary systems

Context. The disagreement between theoretical predictions and observations for surface lithium abundance in stars is a long-standing problem, which indicates that the adopted physical treatment is still lacking in some points. However, thanks to the recent improvements in both models and observations, it is interesting to analyse the situation to evaluate present uncertainties. Aims. We present a consistent and quantitative analysis of the theoretical uncertainties affecting surface lithium abundance in the current generation of models. Methods. By means of an up-to-date and well tested evolutionary code, FRANEC, theoretical errors on surface 7 Li abundance predictions, during the pre-main sequence (pre-MS) and main sequence (MS) phases, are discussed in detail. Then, the predicted surface 7 Li abundance was tested against observational data for five open clusters, namely Ic 2602, α Per, Blanco1, Pleiades, and NGC 2516, and for four detached double-lined eclipsing binary systems. Stellar models for the aforementioned clusters were computed by adopting suitable chemical composition, age, and mixing length parameter for MS stars determined from the analysis of the colour−magnitude diagram of each cluster. We restricted our analysis to young clusters, to avoid additional uncertainty sources such as diffusion and/or radiative levitation efficiency. Results. We confirm the disagreement, within present uncertainties, between theoretical predictions and 7 Li observations for standard models. However, we notice that a satisfactory agreement with observations for 7 Li abundance in both young open clusters and binary systems can be achieved if a lower convection efficiency is adopted during the pre-MS phase with respect to the MS one.

NEW DETERMINATION OF THE 2H(d,p)3H AND 2H(d,n)3He REACTION RATES AT ASTROPHYSICAL ENERGIES

The cross sections of the 2H(d,p)3H and 2H(d,n)3He reactions have been measured via the Trojan Horse method applied to the quasi-free 2H(3He,p 3H)1H and 2H(3He,n 3He)1H processes at 18 MeV off the proton in 3He. For the first time, the bare nucleus S(E) factors have been determined from 1.5 MeV, across the relevant region for standard Big Bang nucleosynthesis, down to the thermal energies of deuterium burning in the pre-main-sequence (PMS) phase of stellar evolution, as well as of future fusion reactors. Both the energy dependence and the absolute value of the S(E) factors deviate by more than 15% from the available direct data and existing fitting curves, with substantial variations in the electron screening by more than 50%. As a consequence, the reaction rates for astrophysics experience relevant changes, with a maximum increase of up to 20% at the temperatures of the PMS phase. From a recent primordial abundance sensitivity study, it turns out that the 2H(d,n)3He reaction is quite influential on 7Li, and the present change in the reaction rate leads to a decrease in its abundance by up to 10%. The present reaction rates have also been included in an updated version of the FRANEC evolutionary code to analyze their influence on the central deuterium abundance in PMS stars with different masses. The largest variation of about 10%-15% pertains to young stars (≤1 Myr) with masses ≥1 M ☉.

Kepler-77b: a very low albedo, Saturn-mass transiting planet around a metal-rich solar-like star

We report the discovery of Kepler-77b (alias KOI-127.01), a Saturn-mass transiting planet in a 3.6-day orbit around a metal-rich solarlike star.Wecombined the publicly availableKepler photometry (quarters 1−13) withhigh-resolution spectroscopy from the Sandiford at McDonald and FIES at NOT spectrographs. We derived the system parameters via a simultaneous joint fit to the photometric and radial velocity measurements. Our analysis is based on the Bayesian approach and is carried out by sampling the parameter posterior distributions using a Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation. Kepler-77b is a moderately inflated planet with a mass of Mp = 0.430 ± 0.032 MJup, a radius of Rp = 0.960 ± 0.016 RJup, and a bulk density of ρp = 0.603 ± 0.055 gcm −3 . It orbits a slowly rotating (Prot = 36 ±6 days) G5V star with M� = 0.95 ±0.04 M� , R� = 0.99 ±0.02 R� , Teff = 5520 ±60 K, [M/H] = 0.20 ±0.05dex, that has an age of 7.5 ± 2.0 Gyr. The lack of detectable planetary occultation with a depth higher than ∼10ppm implies a planet geometric and Bond albedo of Ag ≤ 0.087 ± 0.008 and AB ≤ 0.058 ± 0.006, respectively, placing Kepler-77b among the gas-giant planets with the lowest albedo known so far. Wefound neither additional planetary transit signals nor transit-timing variations at a level of ∼0.5 min, in accordance with the trend that close-in gas giant planets seem to belong to single-planet systems. The 106 transits observed in short-cadence mode by Kepler for nearly 1.2 years show no detectable signatures of the planet’s passage in front of starspots. We explored the implications of the absence of detectable spot-crossing events for the inclination of the stellar spin-axis, the sky-projected spin-orbit obliquity, and the latitude of magnetically active regions.

THE CLUSTERED NATURE OF STAR FORMATION. PRE-MAIN-SEQUENCE CLUSTERS IN THE STAR-FORMING REGION NGC 602/N90 IN THE SMALL MAGELLANIC CLOUD*

Located at the tip of the wing of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), the star-forming region NGC 602/N90 is characterized by the H II nebular ring N90 and the young cluster of pre-main-sequence (PMS) and early-type main-sequence stars NGC 602, located in the central area of the ring. We present a thorough cluster analysis of the stellar sample identified with Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys in the region. We show that apart from the central cluster low-mass PMS stars are congregated in 13 additional small, compact sub-clusters at the periphery of NGC 602, identified in terms of their higher stellar density with respect to the average background density derived from star counts. We find that the spatial distribution of the PMS stars is bimodal, with an unusually large fraction (~60%) of the total population being clustered, while the remaining is diffusely distributed in the intercluster area, covering the whole central part of the region. From the corresponding color-magnitude diagrams we disentangle an age difference of ~2.5?Myr between NGC 602 and the compact sub-clusters, which appear younger, on the basis of comparison of the brighter PMS stars with evolutionary models, which we accurately calculated for the metal abundance of the SMC. The diffuse PMS population appears to host stars as old as those in NGC 602. Almost all detected PMS sub-clusters appear to be centrally concentrated. When the complete PMS stellar sample, including both clustered and diffused stars, is considered in our cluster analysis, it appears as a single centrally concentrated stellar agglomeration, covering the whole central area of the region. Considering also the hot massive stars of the system, we find evidence that this agglomeration is hierarchically structured. Based on our findings, we propose a scenario according to which the region NGC 602/N90 experiences an active clustered star formation for the last ~5?Myr. The central cluster NGC 602 was formed first and rapidly started dissolving into its immediate ambient environment, possibly ejecting also massive stars found away from its center. Star formation continued in sub-clusters of a larger stellar agglomeration, introducing an age spread of the order of 2.5?Myr among the PMS populations.

Deep near-infrared imaging of W3 Main: constraints on stellar cluster formation

Context. Embedded clusters like W3 Main are complex and dynamically evolving systems that represent an important phase in the star formation process.

On a New Theoretical Framework for RR Lyrae Stars. II. Mid-infrared Period-Luminosity-Metallicity Relations

We present new theoretical period-luminosity-metallicity (PLZ) relations for RR Lyrae stars (RRL) at Spitzer and WISE wavelengths. The PLZ relations were derived using nonlinear, time-dependent convective hydrodynamical models for a broad range in metal abundances (Z=0.0001 to 0.0198). In deriving the light curves, we tested two sets of atmospheric models (Brott & Hauschildt 2005, Castelli & Kurucz 2003) and found no significant difference between the resulting mean magnitudes. We also compare our theoretical relations to empirical relations derived from RRL in both the field and in the globular cluster M4. Our theoretical PLZ relations were combined with multi-wavelength observations to simultaneously fit the distance modulus, mu_0, and extinction, Av, of both the individual Galactic RRL and of the cluster M4. The results for the Galactic RRL are consistent with trigonometric parallax measurements from Gaias first data release. For M4, we find a distance modulus of

The Gaia-ESO Survey: Structural and dynamical properties of the young cluster Chamaeleon I

\mu_0=11.257 \pm 0.035