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The Lithium Depletion Boundary and the Age of the Young Open Cluster IC~2391
We have obtained new photometry and intermediate resolution ( \AA\ ) spectra of 19 of these objects
(14.9 17.5) in order to confirm cluster membership. We
identify 15 of our targets as likely cluster members based on their
photometry, spectral types, radial velocity, and H emission strengths.
Higher S/N spectra were obtained for 8 of these probable cluster members in
order to measure the strength of the lithium 6708 \AA\ doublet and thus obtain
an estimate of the cluster's age. One of these 8 stars has a definite lithium
detection and two other (fainter) stars have possible lithium detections. A
color-magnitude diagram for our program objects shows that the lithium
depletion boundary in IC~2391 is at =16.2. Using recent theoretical model
predictions, we derive an age for IC~2391 of 535 Myr. While this is
considerably older than the age most commonly attributed for this cluster
(35 Myr) this result for IC~2391 is comparable those recently derived for
the Pleiades and Alpha Persei clusters and can be explained by new models for
high mass stars that incorporate a modest amount of convective core
overshooting.Comment: ApJ Letters, acccepte
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