Stellar diameters. II. K and M-stars

This sample is enhanced by adding a collection of radius measurements published in the literature to form a total data set of 33 K-M-dwarfs with diameters measured to better than 5%. We use these data in combination with the Hipparcos parallax and new measurements of the star's bolometric flux to compute absolute luminosities, linear radii, and effective temperatures for the stars.

We develop empirical relations for ~K0 to M4 main-sequence stars that link the stellar temperature, radius, and luminosity to the observed (B-V), (V-R), (V-I), (V-J), (V-H), and (V-K) broadband color index and stellar metallicity [Fe/H]. These relations are valid for metallicities ranging from [Fe/H]=-0.5 to +0.1dex and are accurate to ~2%, ~5%, and ~4% for temperature, radius, and luminosity, respectively. Our results show that it is necessary to use metallicity-dependent transformations in order to properly convert colors into stellar temperatures, radii, and luminosities.