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Discovery of HE 1523-0901, a Strongly r-Process Enhanced Metal-Poor Star with Detected Uranium

Anna Frebel·Norbert Christlieb·John E. Norris·Christopher Thom·Timothy C. Beers·Jaehyon Rhee
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Abstract

We present age estimates for the newly discovered very r-process enhanced metal-poor star HE 1523-0901 ([Fe/H]=-2.95) based on the radioactive decay of Th and U. The bright (V=11.1) giant was found amongst a sample of bright metal-poor stars selected from the Hamburg/ESO survey. From an abundance analysis of a high-resolution (R=75,000) VLT/UVES spectrum we find HE 1523-0901 to be strongly overabundant in r-process elements ([r/Fe]=1.8). The abundances of heavy neutron-capture elements (Z>56) measured in HE 1523-0901 match the scaled solar r-process pattern extremely well. We detect the strongest optical U line at 3859.57 A. For the first time, we are able to employ several different chronometers, such as the U/Th, U/Ir, Th/Eu and Th/Os ratios to measure the age of a star. The weighted average age of HE 1523-0901 is 13.2 Gyr. Several sources of uncertainties are assessed in detail.

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Anna Frebel, Norbert Christlieb, John E. Norris, Christopher Thom, Timothy C. Beers, Jaehyon Rhee. 2007-03-15. Discovery of HE 1523-0901, a Strongly r-Process Enhanced Metal-Poor Star with Detected Uranium. https://doi.org/10.1086/518122

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