Lithium in old open clusters: NGC 188

Echelle spectra which include the Li I line at 6707 A are reported for seven main-sequence stars and one subgiant in NGC 188. The Li I line is detected in five of the six dwarfs which are highly probable cluster members. The derived atmospheric Li/H ratios exceed the solar value by factors ranging approximately from 10 to 40, although these apparently closely solarlike stars are about twice as old as the sun. The variation of the lithium abundance with stellar mass along the main sequences of the Pleiades, the Hyades, NGC 752, and NGC 188 are compared. The resulting evolutionary pattern indicates that the lithium fraction in the Galactic gas has shown no appreciable change from Li/H of roughly 10 to the -9th since the birth of NGC 188 about 10 Gyr ago, except that the abundance could have been higher by an uncertain but possibly appreciable factor at the beginning of that epoch. 51 references.