Poster Abstracts

Name/Affiliation:  Jason Curtis (Penn State)

Title:  Dating middle-aged stars

Abstract:
Ruprecht 147 is the oldest nearby star cluster, with an age of 3 Gyr at 300 pc, which allows R147 to serve as a sorely needed intermediate-aged benchmark. Stellar ages are difficult to infer for main sequence stars, but age can reveal itself through the spin down of stars via magnetic braking, which also causes magnetic activity to wane with time. We will present results from our studies of the magnetic activity and rotation of FGK stars. We also hope to have newly identified M dwarf members by the time of this meeting, and will discuss their activity, manifested in chromospheric H-alpha emission.