# Blue Lurkers: Hidden Blue Stragglers on the M67 Main Sequence Identified from their Kepler/K2 Rotation Periods

## TL;DR

This study identifies eleven fast-rotating, low-luminosity stars in M67 likely formed through stellar interactions, revealing a hidden population of blue straggler counterparts and emphasizing the importance of binaries in stellar evolution.

## Contribution

It uncovers a new population of low-luminosity blue straggler analogs in M67 using rotation periods, providing insights into binary evolution and cluster dynamics.

## Key findings

- Eleven fast rotators with 2-8 day periods identified in M67.
- High binary fraction (73%) among these stars.
- Evidence of white dwarf companions in some systems.

## Abstract

At an age of 4 Gyr, typical solar-type stars in M67 have rotation rates of 20-30 days. Using K2 Campaign 5 and 16 light curves and the spectral archive of the WIYN Open Cluster Study, we identify eleven three-dimensional kinematic members of M67 with anomalously fast rotation periods of 2-8 days, implying ages of less than 1 Gyr. We hypothesize that these anomalously fast rotators have been spun up by mass transfer, mergers, or stellar collisions during dynamical encounters within the last Gyr, and thus represent lower-luminosity counterparts to the blue straggler stars. These 11 candidate post-interaction stellar systems have much in common with the blue stragglers including a high binary fraction (73%), a number of long-period, low-eccentricity binary systems, and in at least one case a UV excess consistent with the presence of a hot white dwarf companion. The identification of these 11 systems provides the first picture of the low-luminosity end of the blue straggler distribution, providing new constraints for detailed binary evolution models and cluster population studies. This result also clearly demonstrates the need to properly account for the impact of binaries on stellar evolution, as significant numbers of post-interaction binaries likely exist on cluster main sequences and in the field. These stars are not always easy to identify, but make up ~10% of the spectroscopic binary population among the solar-type stars in M67.