Stellar Rotation in Field and Cluster B-Stars

TL;DR

This study compares the rotational properties of 108 nearby field B-stars with cluster B-stars, revealing that older stars in the field sample rotate more slowly than younger cluster stars.

Contribution

It provides a spectroscopic analysis of field B-stars using consistent methods with previous cluster studies, highlighting age-related differences in stellar rotation.

Findings

Field B-stars rotate more slowly than cluster B-stars.

Slower rotation in field stars is due to their older age.

Age influences stellar rotational velocity in B-stars.

Abstract

We present the results of a spectroscopic investigation of 108 nearby field B-stars. We derive their key stellar parameters, $V \sin i$, $T_{\rm eff}$, $\log g$, and $\log g_{\rm polar}$, using the same methods that we used in our previous cluster B-star survey. By comparing the results of the field and the cluster samples, we find that the main reason for the overall slower rotation of the field sample is that it contains a larger fraction of older stars than found in the (mainly young) cluster sample.