Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2002-03-21
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
32 pages, 11 figures, accepted to AJ
Scientific paper
10.1086/340806
We examine the early angular momentum history of stars in young clusters via 197 photometric periods in fields flanking the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC), 81 photometric periods in NGC 2264, and 202 measurements of v sin i in the ONC itself. We show that PMS stars spanning an age range from 0.1 to 3 Myr do not appear to conserve stellar angular momentum as they evolve down their convective tracks, but instead preserve the same range of periods even though they have contracted by about a factor of three. This result seems to require a mechanism that regulates the angular velocities of young stars. We discuss several candidate mechanisms. The most plausible appears to be disk-locking, though most of our stars do not have (I-K) excesses suggestive of disks. However, a decisive test of this hypothesis requires a more sensitive diagnostic than the (I-K) excesses used here.
Makidon Russell B.
Rebull Luisa M.
Strom Stephen E.
Wolff Sidney C.
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