Ages for exoplanet host stars

TL;DR

Determining the age of exoplanet host stars is challenging; this paper reviews alternative methods to asteroseismology, emphasizing the need for improved stellar evolution models and calibration techniques.

Contribution

The paper analyzes alternative age determination methods for exoplanet host stars and discusses the requirements for their improvement and calibration.

Findings

Asteroseismology offers precise ages but is limited by data availability.

Alternative techniques have broader applicability but face significant limitations.

Advancements depend on better understanding of stellar evolution and calibration data.

Abstract

Age is an important characteristic of a planetary system, but also one that is difficult to determine. Assuming that the host star and the planets are formed at the same time, the challenge is to determine the stellar age. Asteroseismology provides precise age determination, but in many cases the required detailed pulsation observations are not available. Here we concentrate on other techniques, which may have broader applicability but also serious limitations. Further development of this area requires improvements in our understanding of the evolution of stars and their age-dependent characteristics, combined with observations that allow reliable calibration of the various techniques.