WIYN Open Cluster Study LXXXV. Li in NGC 2243 -- Implications for Stellar and Galactic Evolution

TL;DR

This study analyzes lithium abundances and stellar properties in the old, metal-deficient cluster NGC 2243, revealing insights into stellar evolution, lithium depletion patterns, and implications for galactic chemical evolution.

Contribution

It provides new high-resolution spectroscopic data on lithium and metallicity in NGC 2243, and explores the relationship between lithium, stellar rotation, and metallicity across different stellar populations.

Findings

Li abundance distribution varies with stellar mass and metallicity.

The Li-dip's high-mass edge slope is 0.4 solar-mass/dex.

Li variation among giants correlates with turnoff star properties.

Abstract

High-dispersion spectra in the Li 6708 Angstrom region have been obtained and analyzed in the old, metal-deficient cluster, NGC 2243. From Hydra spectra for 29 astrometric and radial-velocity members, we derive rotational velocities, as well as [Fe/H], [Ca/H], [Si/H], and [Ni/H] based on 17, 1, 1, and 3 lines, respectively. Using ROBOSPECT, an automatic equivalent width measurement program, we derive [Fe/H] = -0.54 +/- 0.11 (MAD), for an internal precision for the cluster [Fe/H] below 0.03 dex. Given the more restricted line set, comparable values for [Ca/H], [Si/H], and [Ni/H] are -0.48 +/- 0.19, -0.44 +/- 0.11, and -0.61 +/- 0.06, respectively. With E(B-V) = 0.055, appropriate isochrones imply (m-M) = 13.2 +/- 0.1 and an age of 3.6 +/- 0.2 Gyr. Using available VLT spectra and published Li abundances, we construct a Li sample of over 100 stars extending from the tip of the giant branch to 0.5 mag below the Li-dip. The Li-dip is well populated and, when combined with results for NGC 6819 and Hyades/Praesepe, implies a mass/metallicity slope of 0.4 solar-mass/dex for the high mass edge of the Li-dip. The A(Li) distribution among giants reflects the degree of Li variation among the turnoff stars above the Li-dip, itself a function of stellar mass and metallicity and strongly anticorrelated with a v_rot distribution that dramatically narrows with age. Potential implications of these patterns for the interpretation of Li among dwarf and giant field populations, especially selection biases tied to age and metallicity, are discussed.