Benchmarking MESA isochrones against the Hyades single star sequence

Abstract

Based on GAIA EDR3, we revisit and update our sample of bonafide single stars in the Hyades open cluster. The small observational uncertainties in parallax and photometry of EDR3 result in a tightly defined stellar sequence, which is ideal for the testing and calibration of theoretical stellar evolutionary tracks and isochrones. We benchmark the solar-scaled MESA evolutionary models against the single star sequence. We find that the non-rotating MESA models for [Fe/H] = +0.25 provide a good fit for stars with masses above 0.85, and very low mass stars below 0.25 M${}_{\odot }$. For stars with masses between 0.25 and 0.85 M${}_{\odot }$ the models systematically under predict the observed stellar luminosity. One potential limitation of the models for partially convective stars more massive than 0.35 M${}_{\odot }$ is the prescription of (superadiabatic) convection with the mixing-length theory parameter ${\alpha }_{\mathrm{ML}}$ tuned to match the Solar model. Below 0.35 M${}_{\odot }$, the increased scatter in the stellar sequence might be a manifestation of the convective kissing instability, which is driven by variations in the ${}^3$He nuclear energy production rate due to instabilities at the convective core to envelope boundary. For a Hyades-like stellar population, the application of solar-scaled models to subsolar mass stars could result in a significant underestimate of the age, or an overestimate of the metallicity. We suggest that future grids of solar-scaled evolutionary stellar models could be complemented by Hyades-scaled models in the mass range 0.25 to 0.85 M${}_{\odot }$.

arXiv comment7 pages, 3 figures, accepted by MNRAS. The full Table 1 is included in the MNRAS supplementary online material, and will be made available via VizieR

References in corpus (44)

• The chemical composition of the Sun
• Gaia Data Release 2. Summary of the contents and survey properties
• The Gaia mission
• Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA)
• PARSEC: stellar tracks and isochrones with the PAdova and TRieste Stellar Evolution Code
• Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA): Giant Planets, Oscillations, Rotation, and Massive Stars
• Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA): Binaries, Pulsations, and Explosions
• MESA Isochrones and Stellar Tracks (MIST). I: Solar-Scaled Models
• Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA): Convective Boundaries, Element Diffusion, and Massive Star Explosions
• Estimating distances from parallaxes. V: Geometric and photogeometric distances to 1.47 billion stars in Gaia Early Data Release 3
• MESA Isochrones and Stellar Tracks (MIST) 0: Methods for the construction of stellar isochrones
• The Dartmouth Stellar Evolution Database
• Evolutionary models for cool brown dwarfs and extrasolar giant planets. The case of HD 20945
• New evolutionary models for pre-main sequence and main sequence low-mass stars down to the hydrogen-burning limit
• Evolution of asymptotic giant branch stars II. Optical to far-infrared isochrones with improved TP-AGB models
• Theoretical isochrones in several photometric systems I. Johnson-Cousins-Glass, HST/WFPC2, HST/NICMOS, Washington, and ESO Imaging Survey filter sets
• Gaia Early Data Release 3: The astrometric solution
• The PPMXL catalog of positions and proper motions on the ICRS. Combining USNO-B1.0 and 2MASS
• Gaia Early Data Release 3: Photometric content and validation
• Star Clusters Across Cosmic Time
• Improving PARSEC models for very low mass stars
• Gaia Early Data Release 3: The Gaia Catalogue of Nearby Stars
• Magnetic Inhibition of Convection and the Fundamental Properties of Low-Mass Stars. III. A Consistent 10 Myr Age for the Upper Scorpius OB Association
• The Pisa pre-main sequence tracks and isochrones. A database covering a wide range of Z, Y, mass, and age values
• A Hipparcos study of the Hyades open cluster: Improved colour-absolute magnitude and Hertzsprung-Russell diagrams
• K2 rotation periods for low-mass Hyads and a quantitative comparison of the distribution of slow rotators in the Hyades and Praesepe
• Age Determinations of the Hyades, Praesepe, and Pleiades via MESA Models with Rotation
• A deep all-sky census of the Hyades
• SpeX Spectroscopy of Unresolved Very Low Mass Binaries. II. Identification of Fourteen Candidate Binaries with Late-M/Early-L and T Dwarf Components
• Magnetic Inhibition of Convection and the Fundamental Properties of Low-Mass Stars. II. Fully Convective Main Sequence Stars
• K2 Rotation Periods for low-mass Hyads and the Implications for Gyrochronology
• Rotation, inflation, and lithium in the Pleiades
• A Measurement of Radius Inflation in the Pleiades and its Relation to Rotation and Lithium Depletion
• Lithium-7 surface abundance in pre-MS stars. Testing theory against clusters and binary systems
• A closer look at the transition between fully convective and partly radiative low mass stars
• AstraLux: the Calar Alto Lucky Imaging Camera
• A He3 driven instability near the fully convective boundary
• Towards a complete stellar mass function of the Hyades. I. Pan-STARRS1 optical observations of the low-mass stellar content
• Stellar models and Hyades: the Hipparcos test
• Single stars in the Hyades open cluster. Fiducial sequence for testing stellar and atmospheric models
• Bayesian calibration of the mixing length parameter ${\alpha }_{ML}$ and of the helium-to-metal enrichment ratio $\Delta Y/\Delta Z$ with open clusters: the Hyades test-bed
• The Radius and Entropy of a Magnetized, Rotating Fully-convective Star: Analysis With Depth-dependent Mixing Length Theories
• TA-DA: a Tool for Astrophysical Data Analysis
• High-contrast, high-angular resolution view of the GJ 367 exoplanet system

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Astrophysical properties of 600 bonafide single stars in the Hyades open cluster
• Isochrone fitting to the open cluster M67 in the era of Gaia and improved model physics
• Benchmarking Gaia DR3 Apsis with the Hyades and Pleiades open clusters
• An absolute mass, precise age, and hints of planetary winds for WASP-121 A and b from a JWST NIRSpec phase curve
• The convective kissing instability in low-mass M-dwarf models: convective overshooting, semi-convection, luminosity functions, surface abundances and star cluster age dating
• Surface activity of a Rossby sequence of cool Hyades stars