On precise ZAMSs, the solar color, and pre-main-sequence lithium depletion

This paper describes a semiempirical main-sequence-fitting method for the determination of distances to stellar systems, which uses a ZAMS locus carefully normalized to the sun, and whose shape is defined by a quartic over the color range for (B-V)0 values between 0.2 and 1.0 such that the morphology of the Pleiades C-M diagram is accurately reproduced. Using this technique, distances were derived for a number of star clusters. It was found that the observed depletion of lithium among cool main-sequence stars in the Hyades and Pleiades can be matched quite well by the present models. Calculations also show that the depletion of Li at a fixed T(eff) along the main sequence is a sensitive function of Fe/H.