Star-to-star Na and O abundance variations along the red giant branch in NGC 2808

Eugenio Carretta; Angela Bragaglia; Carla Cacciari

doi:10.1086/423034

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arXiv · astro-ph/0406119

Star-to-star Na and O abundance variations along the red giant branch in NGC 2808

Eugenio Carretta·Angela Bragaglia·Carla Cacciari

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Abstract

We report for the first time Na and O abundances from high-resolution, high S/N echelle spectra of 20 red giants in NGC 2808, taken as part of the Science Verification program of the FLAMES multi-object spectrograph at the ESO VLT. In these stars, spanning about 3 mag from the red giant branch (RGB) tip, large variations are detected in the abundances of oxygen and sodium, anticorrelated with each other; this is a well known evidence of proton-capture reactions at high temperatures in the ON and NeNa cycles. One star appears super O-poor; if the extension of the Na-O anticorrelation is confirmed, NGC 2808 might reach O depletion levels as large as those of M 13. This result confirms our previous findings based on lower resolution spectra (Carretta et al. 2003) of a large star-to-star scatter in proton capture elements at all positions along the RGB in NGC 2808, with no significant evolutionary contribution. Finally, the average metallicity for NGC 2808 is [Fe/H]= -1.14 +/- 0.01 dex (rms=0.06) from 19 stars.

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Eugenio Carretta, Angela Bragaglia, Carla Cacciari. 2004-06-04. Star-to-star Na and O abundance variations along the red giant branch in NGC 2808. https://doi.org/10.1086/423034

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