Paper detail

Age Determination for 346 Nearby Stars in the Herschel DEBRIS Survey

DEBRIS is a flux-limited survey of nearby stars (spectral types A-M) for evidence of debris disks with the Herschel Space Observatory. One goal of the survey is to determine disk incidence as a function of various stellar parameters. Understanding debris disk evolution depends on knowledge of the precise age of stars around which these debris disks are found. However, finding ages for field stars is notoriously difficult. Furthermore, in an unbiased sample like DEBRIS, one is working with stars across many spectral types. This requires a multi-method approach to age determination. In this paper, we outline several methods of age determination broken down by spectral type, including some strengths and limitations of each method. In total, we were able to calculate ages for 263 of 274 F, G, and K-type stars, and all 83 A-type stars in the DEBRIS sample.