Lithium-rotation connection in the newly discovered young stellar stream Psc-Eri (Meingast 1)

Arancibia Silvia, J., Bouvier, J., Bayo, A., Galli, P. A. B., Brander, W., Bouy, H., Barrado, D. (2020). Lithium-rotation connection in the newly discovered young stellar stream Psc-Eri (Meingast 1). Astronomy and Astyrophysics, 635 DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201937137

As a fragile element, lithium is a sensitive probe of physical processes occurring in stellar interiors.Aims. We aim to investigate the relationship between lithium abundance and rotation rate in low-mass members of the newly discovered 125 Myr-old Psc-Eri stellar stream.Methods. We obtained high-resolution optical spectra and measured the equivalent width of the 607.8 nm LiI line for 40 members of the Psc-Eri stream, whose rotational periods have been previously derived.Results. We show that a tight correlation exists between the lithium content and rotation rate among the late-G to early-K-type stars of the Psc-Eri stream. Fast rotators are systematically Li rich, while slow rotators are Li depleted. This trend mimics that previously reported for the similar age Pleiades cluster.Conclusions. The lithium-rotation connection thus seems to be universal over a restricted effective temperature range for low-mass stars at or close to the zero-age main sequence, and does not depend on environmental conditions.

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