New pre-main-sequence stars in the Upper Scorpius subgroup of Sco–Cen

Abstract

We present 237 new spectroscopically confirmed pre-main-sequence K and M-type stars in the young Upper Scorpius subgroup of the Sco-Cen association, the near- est region of recent massive star formation. Using the Wide-Field Spectrograph at the Australian National University 2.3 m telescope at Siding Spring, we observed 397 kinematically and photometrically selected candidate members of Upper Scorpius, and identified new members by the presence of Lithium absorption. The HR-diagram of the new members shows a spread of ages, ranging from ~3-20 Myr, which broadly agrees with the current age estimates of ~5-10 Myr. We find a significant range of Li 6708 equivalent widths among the members, and a minor dependence of HR-diagram position on the measured equivalent width of the Li 6708A line, with members that appear younger having more Lithium. This could indicate the presence of either popu- lations of different age, or a spread of ages in Upper Scorpius. We also use Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer data to infer circumstellar disk presence in 25 of the members on the basis of infrared excesses, including two candidate transition disks. We find that 11.2+-3.4% of the M0-M2 spectral type (0.4-0.8 M_sun) Upper Sco stars display an excess that indicates the presence of a gaseous disk.