The radii of the nearby K 5 V and K 7 V stars 61 Cyg A & B CHARA / FLUOR interferometry and CESAM 2 k modeling

Context. The main sequence binary star 61 Cyg (K5V+K7V) is our nearest stellar neighbour in the northern hemisphere. This proximity makes it a particularly well suited system for very high accuracy interferometric radius measurements. Aims. Our goal is to constrain the poorly known evolutionary status and age of this bright binary star. Methods. We obtained high accuracy interferometric observations in the infrared K band, using the CHARA/FLUOR instrument. We then computed evolutionary models of 61 Cyg A & B with the CESAM2k code. As model constraints, we used a combination of observational parameters from classical observation methods (photometry, spectroscopy) as well as our new interferometric radii. Results. The measured limb darkened disk angular diameters are θLD(A) = 1.775 ± 0.013 mas and θLD(B) = 1.581 ± 0.022 mas, respectively for 61 Cyg A and B. Considering the high accuracy parallaxes available, these values translate into photospheric radii of R(A) = 0.665 ± 0.005 R⊙ and R(B) = 0.595 ± 0.008 R⊙. The new radii constrain efficiently the physical parameters adopted for the modeling of both stars, allowing us to predict asteroseismic frequencies based on our best-fit models. Conclusions. The CESAM2k evolutionary models indicate an age around 6 Gyrs and are compatible with small values of the mixing length parameter. The measurement of asteroseismic oscillation frequencies in 61 Cyg A & B would be of great value to improve the modeling of this important fiducial stellar system, in particular to better constrain the masses.