Towards precise ages for single stars in the field. Gyrochronology constraints at several Gyr using wide binaries. I. Ages for initial sample

TL;DR

This study aims to calibrate gyrochronology relations for solar-type stars at several Gyr by using wide binaries with evolved stars to determine ages and measure rotation periods of main-sequence companions.

Contribution

It introduces a method using wide binaries with evolved stars to derive precise ages for calibrating stellar spin-down models at old ages.

Findings

A sample of 31 wide binaries with ages 1-9 Gyr was assembled.

Ages for most systems were determined with better than 20% precision.

The data can help calibrate gyrochronology relations at very old stellar ages.

Abstract

We present a program designed to obtain age-rotation measurements of solar-type dwarfs to be used in the calibration of gyrochronology relations at ages of several Gyr. This is a region of parameter space crucial for the large-scale study of the Milky Way, and where the only constraint available today is that provided by the Sun. Our program takes advantage of a set of wide binaries selected so that one component is an evolved star and the other is a main-sequence star of FGK type. In this way, we obtain the age of the system from the evolved star, while the rotational properties of the main sequence component provides the information relevant for gyrochronology regarding the spin-down of solar-type stars. By mining currently available catalogs of wide binaries, we assemble a sample of 37 pairs well positioned for our purposes: 19 with turnoff or subgiant primaries, and 18 with white dwarf components. Using high-resolution optical spectroscopy, we measure precise stellar parameters for a subset of 15 of the pairs with turnoff/subgiant components, and use these to derive isochronal ages for the corresponding systems. Ages for 16 of the 18 pairs with white dwarf components are taken from the literature. The ages of this initial sample of 31 wide binaries range from 1 to 9 Gyr, with precisions better than 20% for almost half of these systems. When combined with measurements of the rotation period of their main sequence components, these wide binary systems would potentially provide a similar number of points useful for the calibration of gyrochronology relations at very old ages.