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A lithium depletion boundary age of 21 Myr for the Beta Pictoris moving group

Binks, A. S.; Jeffries, R. D.

Authors

A. S. Binks



Abstract

Optical spectroscopy is used to confirm membership for eight low-mass candidates in the young Beta Pic moving group (BPMG) via their radial velocities, chromospheric activity and kinematic parallaxes. We searched for the presence of the Li I 6708 Å resonance feature and combined the results with literature measurements of other BPMG members to find the age-dependent lithium depletion boundary (LDB) – the luminosity at which Li remains unburned in a coeval group. The LDB age of the BPMG is 21 ± 4 Myr and insensitive to the choice of low-mass evolutionary models. This age is more precise, likely to be more accurate, and much older than that commonly assumed for the BPMG. As a result, substellar and planetary companions of BPMG members will be more massive than previously thought.

Citation

Binks, A. S., & Jeffries, R. D. (2014). A lithium depletion boundary age of 21 Myr for the Beta Pictoris moving group. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, 438(1), L11-L15. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnrasl/slt141

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Oct 9, 2013
Online Publication Date Nov 19, 2013
Publication Date Feb 11, 2014
Deposit Date Jun 13, 2023
Journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Electronic ISSN 1745-3933
Publisher Oxford University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 438
Issue 1
Pages L11-L15
DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/mnrasl/slt141
Keywords Space and Planetary Science; Astronomy and Astrophysics