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[10.01] Stellar Rotation Among Intermediate Mass Stars in the h and chi Perseii Cluster

S.C. Wolff, S.E. Strom (NOAO), D. Dror (Cornell University)

We report the results of a study aimed at comparing the distribution of stellar rotational velocities, N(vsini), derived from WIYN-Hydra spectroscopy of a sample of ~200 B0-B9 star members of the young (t ~ 10 Myr), high stellar density h and chi Perseii cluster with those obtained for a sample of field B stars having comparable age; this latter sample is presumably dominated by stars born in much lower density environments. We find that the median value of vsini among the h and chi Perseii sample significantly exceeds that for the field B-stars, and discuss this result in the context of models that posit (a) that stellar angular momenta are regulated by disk-locking, and (b) time averaged disk acretion rates are higher in regions of higher initial stellar density.

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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 35#5
© 2003. The American Astronomical Soceity.