THE EVOLUTIONARY STATUS OF ACTIVITY-SELECTED SOLAR-TYPE STARS AND OF T-TAURI STARS AS DERIVED FROM HIPPARCOS PARALLAXES - EVIDENCE FOR LONG-LIVED T-TAURI DISKS
F. Favata et al., THE EVOLUTIONARY STATUS OF ACTIVITY-SELECTED SOLAR-TYPE STARS AND OF T-TAURI STARS AS DERIVED FROM HIPPARCOS PARALLAXES - EVIDENCE FOR LONG-LIVED T-TAURI DISKS, Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin), 335(1), 1998, pp. 218-226
We have used the Hipparcos parallaxes to study the evolutionary status
of a sample of stars with spectral types from late F to M0 (hereafter
''solar-type stars''), selected on the basis of their activity, mainl
y from Einstein-based surveys. The parallaxes have been used to place
the objects in the H-R diagram, determining their age by comparison wi
th theoretical evolutionary tracks and observational main sequences. T
his age is compared with age estimates derived from the lithium abunda
nce, the activity level and the presence of circumstellar disks. To co
mplement our sample at the young end we have also studied the Hipparco
s-determined distances of a sample of optically-selected pre-main sequ
ence stars, mostly classical T Tauri stars (CTTS). Some CTTS appear to
be much nearer to us than previously determined, and far away from th
eir putative parent cloud. This implies a significantly larger age pro
viding observational evidence for the existence of long-lived T Tauri
disks which could produce slow rotators on the Zero-Age Main Sequence
(ZAMS). None of the above-mentioned age proxies appears to reliably an
d unambiguously select very young stars in the range of spectral types
considered hen, with some apparently very young objects effectively l
ying onto or very close to the main sequence. The attribution of ages
to young solar-type stars on the basis of any of the standard proxies
may thus significantly under- or over-estimate the evolutionary age of
the object. Caution must therefore be exercised when attributing ages
to individual stars, and claims about the large number of PMS stars f
ound in X-ray based surveys may need to be at least in part reconsider
ed in this light.