Age Determination for 346 Nearby Stars in the Herschel DEBRIS Survey

TL;DR

This paper discusses methods for determining the ages of 346 nearby stars in the Herschel DEBRIS survey, crucial for understanding debris disk evolution, by applying multiple techniques tailored to different spectral types.

Contribution

It presents a comprehensive multi-method approach for age determination across various stellar spectral types in an unbiased survey.

Findings

Ages were successfully determined for 263 F, G, K stars and all 83 A-type stars.

The paper outlines strengths and limitations of each age determination method.

The approach enables better understanding of debris disk evolution in relation to stellar age.

Abstract

DEBRIS is a flux-limited survey of nearby stars (spectral types A-M) for evidence of debris disks with the Herschel Space Observatory. One goal of the survey is to determine disk incidence as a function of various stellar parameters. Understanding debris disk evolution depends on knowledge of the precise age of stars around which these debris disks are found. However, finding ages for field stars is notoriously difficult. Furthermore, in an unbiased sample like DEBRIS, one is working with stars across many spectral types. This requires a multi-method approach to age determination. In this paper, we outline several methods of age determination broken down by spectral type, including some strengths and limitations of each method. In total, we were able to calculate ages for 263 of 274 F, G, and K-type stars, and all 83 A-type stars in the DEBRIS sample.