Are There Age Spreads in Star Forming Regions?

Details Are There Age Spreads in Star Forming Regions? Are There Age Spreads in Star Forming Regions?

2011-02-23

arxiv.org/abs/1102.4752v1

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics

To appear in the proceedings of JENAM10: Star Clusters in the Era of Large Surveys, 8 pages

Scientific paper

A luminosity spread at a given effective temperature is ubiquitously seen in the Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagrams of young star forming regions and often interpreted in terms of a prolonged period (>=10 Myr) of star formation. I review the evidence that the observed luminosity spreads are genuine and not caused by astrophysical sources of scatter. I then address whether the luminosity spreads necessarily imply large age spreads, by comparing HR diagram ages with ages from independent clocks such as stellar rotation rate, the presence of circumstellar material and lithium depletion. I argue that whilst there probably is a true luminosity dispersion, there is little evidence to support age spreads larger than a few Myr. This paradox could be resolved by brief periods of rapid accretion during the class I pre main-sequence phase.

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