Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 April 2016
We present results based on the analysis of lithium abundances in a sample of ~ 50 pre-main sequence stars covering a wide range of masses (from 2 to 0.3 M⊙) and luminosities (corresponding to ages of 1-100 Myr). Stars with masses estimated to be ≳ 1 M⊙show lithium abundances close to cosmic with little scatter (± 0.3 dex). Stars with masses less than Solar present a wide range of lithium abundances, with a clear trend to lower abundances for lower luminosities (greater age). The observed Li abundances constrain theoretical predictions of lithium depletion in rotating pre-main sequence stars.
Based on observations made with the 4.2 m William Herschel Telescope and the 2.5 m Isaac Newton Telescope, operated on the island of La Palma by the Royal Greenwich Observatory in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias.