Potsdam Empirical Rotational Isochrones from CLustEr Stars (Pericles)
IMPORTANT: This website is preliminary pending the publication of the corresponding paper. The paper is submitted to A&A for review. Depending of the outcome some modification might be made to the contents of this website. However, since Pericles data and the estimator below are calibrated directly on the available observations in open clusters, any ages obtain this way (or isochrones used) will only change insignificantly (if at all) between now and the full release. Thus, it can already be used.
The idea of Gyrochronology
The age of a star is a difficult quantity to obtain since it cannot be be measured directly but has to be inferred from other observables. Such inference is particularly challenging for late-type main sequence stars (cool dwarfs) like our Sun as they are essentially static in a color-magnitude diagram (CMD), all but denying the use of classical isochrone fits. Multiple observables have been and continue to be extensively studied but the most promising for cool dwarfs is to correlate rotation rate with age. This process is known as gyrochronology (Barnes 2003).
A set of empirical rotational isochrones modeled on cool dwarfs in open clusters and wide binaries
We have combined extant knowledge on stellar rotational evolution from open clusters, wide binaries, and individual field stars with securely known ages and construct the Potsdam Empirical Rotational Isochrones from CLustEr Stars (Pericles) to be used for age determinations of stars.
Details of the isochrones are described here:
--> Links will be provided when available <--
A quick age estimate with Pericles for your star
Try gyrochronlogy yourself and get a rotational age for your star based on its color and rotation period and direct comparison to the Pericles isochrones. If you are looking for a more sophisticated estimate you will have to download the isochrones and take it from there.Important: Gyrochronology is not for every star
In its current state, rotational ages are only available for late-type main sequence stars (i.e., cool dwarfs, m<=1.3 M_sun, late-F, G, K, early-M types). This means you should not be using it for giants or other evolved stars. It is also essentially unexplored for stars older than 4Gyr (Pericles includes a best-guess extrapolation for ages up to 6Gyr). Furthermore, if your star is a binary, its rotation rate is likely effected by this and gyrochronology doesn't work for it anymore.
Set your stellar parameters (default values are the sun):
| Rotation period | ± | d | ||||||
| Gaia G_BP-G_RP color | ± | mag (Note: Color error estimate not yet included) |
(requires javascript)
Get the Pericles datasets here
We provide the Pericles data in two different forms. Each isochrone is a table in a separate fits for csv file. Download links below provide the data bundled as tar balls.| Data type | Format | Link to zip archive | Filesize | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isochrones | fits | download | 2.2MiB | ||||
| Isochrones | csv | download | 2.3MiB | ||||
| Isochromes (Pseudo-tracks) | fits | download | 2.2MiB | ||||
| Isochromes (Pseudo-tracks) | csv | download | 1.6MiB |
How to acknowledge using Pericles in your work:
If your research makes use of rotational ages obtained with Pericles data, acknowledge the usage by referencing:
--> Links will be provided when available <-- for now: Gruner & Barnes (subm.)
