Gaia-ESO Survey: Hydrogen lines in red giants

The relation allows determining stellar masses and ages with an accuracy of 10-15%. The method can be used with confidence for stars in the following range of stellar parameters: 4000<T_eff_<5000K, 0.5<logg<3.5, -2.0<[Fe/H]<0.3, and luminosities logL/L_{sun}_<2.5. Our analysis provides observational evidence that the H_{alpha}_ spectral characteristics of red giant stars are tightly correlated with their mass and therefore their age.

We also show that the method samples well all stellar populations with ages above 1Gyr. Targeting bright giants, the method allows obtaining simultaneous age and chemical abundance information far deeper than would be possible with asteroseismology, extending the possible survey volume to remote regions of the Milky Way and even to neighbouring galaxies such as Andromeda or the Magellanic Clouds even with current instrumentation, such as the VLT and Keck facilities.