arXiv subjects

Bengt Gustafsson

Publications and source records attributed to Bengt Gustafsson.

28 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2005

Chemical abundances in 43 metal-poor stars

We have derived abundances of O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Fe, Ni and Ba for 43 metal-poor field stars in the solar neighbourhood with iron abundances [Fe/H] ranging from -0.4 to -3.0. Total abundance errors are estimated to about 0.1-0.2 dex for most elements, while relative abundances are most probably more accurate. We have made an extensive comparison with other similar studies and traced the reasons for the, in most cases, relatively small differences. Among the results we note the following: We find [O/Fe] from the O I IR- triplet lines to possibly increase beyond [Fe/H]=-1.0, though considerably less than obtained by others from abundances based on OH lines. We find correlations among the deviations for individual stars from the trends of individual alpha elements relative to Fe. This may support the idea that the formation of the Halo stars occurred in smaller systems with different star formation rates. We verify the finding by Gratton et al. (2003b) that stars that do not participate in the rotation of the galactic disk show a lower mean and larger spread in [alpha/Fe] than stars participating in the general rotation. The latter stars also seem to show some correlation between [alpha/Fe] and rotation speed. We finally advocate that a spectroscopic study of a larger sample of halo stars with well-defined selection criteria is very important, in addition to the very considerable efforts that various groups have already made. (Abridged)

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

Subgiants as probes of galactic chemical evolution

Chemical abundances for 23 candidate subgiant stars have been derived with the aim at exploring their usefulness for studies of galactic chemical evolution. High-resolution spectra from ESO CAT-CES and NOT-SOFIN covered 16 different spectral regions in the visible part of the spectrum. Some 200 different atomic and molecular spectral lines have been used for abundance analysis of about 30 elemental species. The wings of strong, pressure-broadened metal lines were used for determination of stellar surface gravities, which have been compared with gravities derived from Hipparcos parallaxes and isochronic masses. Stellar space velocities have been derived from Hipparcos and Simbad data, and ages and masses were derived with recent isochrones. Only 12 of the stars turned out to be subgiants, i.e. on the "horizontal" part of the evolutionary track between the dwarf- and the giant stages. The abundances derived for the subgiants correspond closely to those of dwarf stars. With the possible exceptions of lithium and carbon we find that subgiant stars show no "chemical" traces of post-main-sequence evolution and that they are therefore very useful targets for studies of galactic chemical evolution.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

The R Coronae Borealis stars - carbon abundances from forbidden carbon lines

Spectra of several R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars at maximum light were examined for the [C I] 9850 A and 8727 A absorption lines. The 9850 A line is variously blended with a Fe II and CN lines but positive identifications of the [C I] line are made for R CrB and SU Tau. The 8727 A line is detected in the spectrum of the five stars observed in this wavelength region. Carbon abundances are derived from the [C I] lines using the model atmospheres and atmospheric parameters used by Asplund et al. (2000). Although the observed strength of a C I line is constant from cool to hot RCB stars, the strength is weaker than predicted by an amount equivalent to a factor of four reduction of a line's gf-value. Asplund et al. dubbed this 'the carbon problem' and discussed possible solutions. The [C I] 9850 A line seen clearly in R CrB and SU Tau confirms the magnitude of the carbon problem revealed by the C I lines. The [C I] 8727 A line measured in five stars shows an enhanced carbon problem. The gf-value required to fit the observed [C I] 8727 A line is a factor of 15 less than the well-determined theoretical gf-value. We suggest that the carbon problem for all lines may be alleviated to some extent by a chromospheric-like temperature rise in these stars. The rise far exceeds that predicted by our non-LTE calculations, and requires a substantial deposition of mechanical energy.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2002

A stellar relic from the early Milky Way

The chemical composition of the most metal-deficient stars reflects the composition of the gas from which they formed. These old stars provide crucial clues to the star formation history and the synthesis of chemical elements in the early Universe. They are the local relics of epochs otherwise observable only at very high redshifts; if totally metal-free (``population III'') stars could be found, this would allow the direct study of the pristine gas from the Big Bang. Earlier searches for such stars found none with an iron abundance less than 1/10,000 that of the Sun, leading to the suggestion that low-mass stars could only form from clouds above a critical iron abundance. Here we report the discovery of a low-mass star with an iron abundance as low as 1/200,000 of the solar value. This discovery suggests that population III stars could still exist, that is, that the first generation of stars also contained long-lived low-mass objects. The previous failure to find them may be an observational selection effect.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1999

The r-Process Enriched Low Metallicity Giant HD 115444

New high resolution, very high signal-to-noise spectra of ultra-metal-poor (UMP) giant stars HD 115444 and HD 122563 have been gathered with the High-Resolution Echelle Spectrometer of the McDonald Observatory 2.7m Telescope. With these spectra, line identification and model atmosphere analyses have been conducted, emphasizing the neutron-capture elements. Twenty elements with Z > 30 have been identified in the spectrum of HD 115444. This star is known to have overabundances of the neutron-capture elements, but it has lacked a detailed analysis necessary to compare with nucleosynthesis predictions. The new study features a line-by-line differential abundance comparison of HD 115444 with the bright, well-studied halo giant HD 122563. For HD 115444, the overall metallicity is [Fe/H]~ -3.0. The abundances of the light and iron-peak elements generally show the same pattern as other UMP stars (e.g. overdeficiencies of manganese and chromium, overabundances of cobalt), but the differential analysis indicates several nucleosynthesis signatures that are unique to each star.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1999

A Consistency Test of Spectroscopic Gravities for Late-Type Stars

Chemical analyses of late-type stars are usually carried out following the classical recipe: LTE line formation and homogeneous, plane-parallel, flux-constant, and LTE model atmospheres. We review different results in the literature that have suggested significant inconsistencies in the spectroscopic analyses, pointing out the difficulties in deriving independent estimates of the stellar fundamental parameters and hence,detecting systematic errors. The trigonometric parallaxes measured by the HIPPARCOS mission provide accurate appraisals of the stellar surface gravity for nearby stars, which are used here to check the gravities obtained from the photospheric iron ionization balance. We find an approximate agreement for stars in the metallicity range -1 <= [Fe/H] <= 0, but the comparison shows that the differences between the spectroscopic and trigonometric gravities decrease towards lower metallicities for more metal-deficient dwarfs (-2.5 <= [Fe/H] <= -1.0), which casts a shadow upon the abundance analyses for extreme metal-poor stars that make use of the ionization equilibrium to constrain the gravity. The comparison with the strong-line gravities derived by Edvardsson (1988) and Fuhrmann (1998a) confirms that this method provides systematically larger gravities than the ionization balance. The strong-line gravities get closer to the physical ones for the stars analyzed by Fuhrmann, but they are even further away than the iron ionization gravities for the stars of lower gravities in Edvardsson's sample. The confrontation of the deviations of the iron ionization gravities in metal-poor stars reported here with departures from the excitation balance found in the literature, show that they are likely to be induced by the same physical mechanism(s).

astro-ph↗

arXiv1999

Spectroscopic Observations of Convective Patterns in the Atmospheres of Metal-Poor Stars

Convective line asymmetries in the optical spectrum of two metal-poor stars, Gmb1830 and HD140283, are compared to those observed for solar metallicity stars. The line bisectors of the most metal-poor star, the subgiant HD140283, show a significantly larger velocity span that the expectations for a solar-metallicity star of the same spectral type and luminosity class. The enhanced line asymmetries are interpreted as the signature of the lower metal content, and therefore opacity, in the convective photospheric patterns. These findings point out the importance of three-dimensional convective velocity fields in the interpretation of the observed line asymmetries in metal-poor stars, and in particular, urge for caution when deriving isotopic ratios from observed line shapes and shifts using one-dimensional model atmospheres. The mean line bisector of the photospheric atomic lines is compared with those measured for the strong Mg I b1 and b2 features. The upper part of the bisectors are similar, and assuming they overlap, the bottom end of the stronger lines, which are formed higher in the atmosphere, goes much further to the red. This is in agreement with the expected decreasing of the convective blue-shifts in upper atmospheric layers, and compatible with the high velocity redshifts observed in the chromosphere, transition region, and corona of late-type stars.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1997

Abundances in metal-rich stars - Detailed abundance analysis of 47 G and K dwarf stars with [Me/H] $>$ 0.10 dex

We have derived elemental abundances of O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni for 47 G and K dwarf, with [Me/H]>0.1 dex. The selection of stars was based on their kinematics as well as on their uvby-photometry. One sample of stars on rather eccentric orbits traces the chemical evolution interior to the solar orbit and another, on circular orbits, the evolution around the solar orbit. A few Extreme Pop I stars were included in the latter sample. The stars have -0.1 0.1 dex. The increase in [Na/Fe] and [Al/Fe] as a function of [Fe/H] found previously by Edvardsson et al. (1993a) has been confirmed for [Na/Fe]. This upturning relation, and the scatter around it, are shown not to be due to a mixture of populations with different mean distances to the galactic centre. We have not been able to trace any tendency for relative abundances of O, Si, and Ti relative to Fe to vary with the stellar velocities, i.e. the stars present mean distance to the galactic centre. These results imply that there is no significant difference in the chemical evolution of the different stellar populations for stars with [Me/H]>0.1 dex. SMR stars on highly eccentric orbits, alleged to trace the evolution of the chemical evolution in the galactic Bulge, have previously been found overabundant in O, Mg and Si. We have included 3 such stars from the study by Barbuy & Grenon (1990). We find them to be less metal rich and the other elemental abundances remain puzzling. Our study includes 5 K dwarf stars and reveal a striking example of overionization.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1997

The rise and fall of the NaMgAl stars

We have made new abundance determinations for a sample of NaMgAl stars. These stars, which are a subgroup of the nearby metal-rich field F and G disk dwarfs, were first identified by Edvardsson et al. (1993) on the basis of their apparent enrichment in Na, Mg and Al relative to other elements. The discovery of a planetary companion to the nearby solar type star 51 Peg (Mayor & Queloz 1995) combined with Edvardsson et al.'s earlier identification of 51 Peg as a NaMgAl star highlighted the group's potential importance. Our new analysis, which uses new spectra of higher resolution and better wavelength coverage than the analysis of Edvardsson et al., shows that the Na, Mg and Al abundances of the NaMgAl stars are indistinguishable from those of non-NaMgAl stars with otherwise similar properties. The group thus appears to be spurious. Our study, which includes 51 Peg, also provides the most complete set of abundances for this star available to date. The new Fe abundance, $[Fe/H] = +0.20 \pm 0.07$, of 51 Peg confirms earlier measurements of its metal richness. Abundances for 19 other elements, including C, N and O, reveal a fairly uniform enrichment similar to that of Fe and show no evidence of abnormality compared to other metal rich stars of similar spectral type.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1996

Carbon Stars and Nucleosynthesis in Galaxies

The role of carbon stars in the build-up of chemical elements in galaxies is discussed on the basis of stellar evolution calculations and estimated stellar yields, abundance analyses of AGB stars, galactic-evolution models and abundance trends among solar-type disk stars. We conclude that the AGB stars in general, and carbon stars in particular, probably are main contributors of $s$-elements, that their contributions of flourine and carbon are quite significant, and that possibly their contributions of lithium, $^{13}$C and $^{22}$Ne are of some importance. Also contributions of N, Na and Al are discussed. The major uncertainties that characterize almost any statement concerning these issues are underlined.

astro-ph↗