Chemical composition of high proper-motion stars based on short-wavelength optical spectra

The results of spectroscopic observations made with the NES echelle spectrograph of the 6-m BTA telescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the wavelength interval of 3550–5100 Å with a spectral resolution of R≥50000 are used to determine the fundamental parameters and atmospheric abundances of more than 20 chemical elements including heavy s- and r-process elements from Sr to Dy for a total of 14 metal-poor G-K-type stars. The abundances of Mg, Al, Sr, and Ba were calculated with non-LTE line-formation effects accounted for. The inferred overabundance of europium with respect to iron agrees with the results obtained for the stars of similar metallicity. The chemical composition of the star BD+80°245 located far from the Galactic plane is typical of stars of the accreted halo: this star exhibits, in addition to the over-deficiency of α-process elements, also the over-deficiency of the γ-process element Ba: [Ba/Fe]= ?1.46. The kinematical parameters and chemical composition imply that the stars studied belong to different Galactic populations. The abundance of the long-living element Th relative to that of the r-process element Eu is determined for six stars using the synthetic-spectrum method.     

Temperature behavior of elemental abundances in the atmospheres of magnetic peculiar stars

We analyze the temperature dependence of the abundances of the chemical elements Si, Ca, Cr, and Fe in the atmospheres of normal, metallic-line (Am), magnetic peculiar (Ap), and pulsating magnetic peculiar (roAp) stars in the range 6000–15000 K. The Cr and Fe abundances in the atmospheres of Ap stars increase rapidly as the temperature rises from 6000 to 9000–10000 K. Subsequently, the Cr abundance decreases to values that exceed the solar abundance by an order of magnitude, while the Fe abundance remains enhanced by approximately +1.0 dex compared to the solar value. The temperature dependence of the abundances of these elements in the atmospheres of normal and Am stars is similar in shape, but its maximum is several orders of magnitude lower than that observed for Ap stars. In the range 6000–9500 K, the observed temperature dependences for Ap stars are satisfactorily described in terms of element diffusion under the combined action of gravitational settling and radiative acceleration. It may well be that diffusion also takes place in the atmospheres of normal stars, but its efficiency is very low due to the presence of microturbulence. We show that the magnetic field has virtually no effect on the Cr and Fe diffusion in Ap stars in the range of effective temperatures 6000–9500 K. The Ca abundance and its variation in the atmospheres of Ap stars can also be explained in terms of the diffusion model if we assume the existence of a stellar wind with a variable moderate rate of ～(2–4) × 10^{? 15}M_⊙ yr^?1.     

Observational restrictions on sodium and aluminium abundance variations in evolution of the galaxy

In this paper we construct and analyze the uniform non-LTE distributions of the aluminium ([Al/Fe]-[Fe/H]) and sodium ([Na/Fe]-[Fe/H]) abundances in the sample of 160 stars of the disk and halo of our Galaxy with metallicities within ?4.07 ≤ [Fe/H] ≤ 0.28. The values of metallicity [Fe/H] and microturbulence velocity ξ _turb indices are determined from the equivalent widths of the Fe II and Fe I lines. We estimated the sodium and aluminium abundances using a 21-level model of the Na I atom and a 39-level model of the Al I atom. The resulting LTE distributions of [Na/Fe]-[Fe/H] and [Al/Fe]-[Fe/H] do not correspond to the theoretical predictions of their evolution, suggesting that a non-LTE approach has to be applied to determine the abundances of these elements. The account of non-LTE corrections reduces by 0.05–0.15 dex the abundances of sodium, determined from the subordinate lines in the stars of the disk with [Fe/H] ≥ ?2.0, and by 0.05–0.70 dex (with a strong dependence on metallicity) the abundances of [Na/Fe], determined by the resonance lines in the stars of the halo with [Fe/H] ≤ ?2.0. The non-LTE corrections of the aluminium abundances are strictly positive and increase from 0.0–0.1 dex for the stars of the thin disk (?0.7 ≤ [Fe/H] ≤ 0.28) to 0.03–0.3 dex for the stars of the thick disk (?1.5 ≤ [Fe/H] ≤ ?0.7) and 0.06–1.2 dex for the stars of the halo ([Fe/H] ≤ ?2.0). The resulting non-LTE abundances of [Na/Fe] reveal a scatter of individual values up to Δ[Na/Fe] = 0.4 dex for the stars of close metallicities. The observed non-LTE distribution of [Na/Fe]-[Fe/H] within 0.15 dex coincides with the theoretical distributions of Samland and Kobayashi et al. The non-LTE aluminium abundances are characterized by a weak scatter of values (up to Δ[Al/Fe] = 0.2 dex) for the stars of all metallicities. The constructed non-LTE distribution of [Al/Fe]-[Fe/H] is in a satisfactory agreement to 0.2 dex with the theoretical data of Kobayashi et al., but strongly differs (up to 0.4 dex) from the predictions of Samland.     

Abundance analysis and searching for nonradial pulsations in the atmosphere of the chemically peculiar star HD 115708

We present the results of our abundance analysis for the magnetic chemically peculiar star HD 115708 based on high-resolution spectra. The atmospheric chemical composition of HD 115708 (T _eff = 7550 K) is shown to be typical of cool Ap stars with a significant ionization disequilibrium for the first and second rare earth ions, which is commonly observed in the atmospheres of pulsating Ap (roAp) stars. Our study of the vertical distribution of elements has shown that Mg, Ca, Cr, and Fe concentrate in deeper atmospheric layers, with their abundances decreasing sharply in the upper layers. The jumps in abundance are 1.5–3 orders of magnitude. Silicon is distributed in depth almost uniformly in the atmosphere of HD 115708. The derived empirical Cr and Fe distributions agree qualitatively with the results of diffusion calculations. Since the atmospheric chemical peculiarities in HD 115708 correspond to roAp stars, we have performed a spectroscopic monitoring to find nonradial pulsations. We have been able to determine only an upper limit for the amplitude of the possible radial velocity pulsations, ～100 m s^?1, due to the insufficient temporal resolution and instability of the main stellar spectrograph (MSS) of the 6-m telescope.     

Influence of inelastic collisions with hydrogen atoms on the formation of AlI and SiI lines in stellar spectra

We have performed calculations by abandoning the assumption of local thermodynamic equilibrium (within the so-called non-LTE approach) for Al I and Si I with model atmospheres corresponding to stars of spectral types F–G–Kwith differentmetal abundances. To take into account inelastic collisions with hydrogen atoms, for the first time we have applied the cross sections calculated by Belyaev et al. using model approaches within the formalism of the Born–Oppenheimer quantum theory. We show that for Al I non-LTE leads to higher ionization (overionization) than in LTE in the spectral line formation region and to a weakening of spectral lines, which is consistent with earlier non-LTE studies. However, our results, especially for the subordinate lines, differ quantitatively from the results of predecessors. Owing to their large cross sections, the ion-pair production and mutual neutralization processes Al I(nl) + HI(1s) ? Al II(3s ²) + H^? provide a close coupling of highly excited Al I levels with the Al II ground state, which causes the deviations from the equilibrium level population to decrease compared to the calculations where the collisions only with electrons are taken into account. For three moderately metal-deficient dwarf stars, the aluminum abundance has been determined from seven Al I lines in different models of their formation. Under the assumption of LTE and in non-LTE calculations including the collisions only with electrons, the Al I 3961 ?A resonance line gives a systematically lower abundance than the mean abundance from the subordinate lines, by 0.25–0.45 dex. The difference for each star is removed by taking into account the collisions with hydrogen atoms, and the rms error of the abundance derived from all seven Al I lines decreases by a factor of 1.5–3 compared to the LTE analysis. We have calculated the non- LTE corrections to the abundance for six subordinate Al I lines as a function of the effective temperature (4500 K ≤ T _eff ≤ 6500 K), surface gravity (3.0 ≤ log g ≤ 4.5), and metal abundance ([M/H] = 0, ?1, ?2, and ?3). For Si I including the collisions with HI leads to the establishment of equilibrium populations in the spectral line formation region even in hot metal-deficient models and to vanishingly small departures from LTE in spectral lines.     

New Views on the Early Evolution of Oxygen in the Galaxy

We discuss results on the oxygen abundance in a sample of 23 metal-poor (?3.0≤ [Fe/H] ≤ ?0.3) unevolved stars and one giant. High resolutionspectroscopy of OH lines in the near UV allowed us to trace the early evolution of oxygenversus metallicity. Contrary to previous expectations, we find that oxygen abundances derived from these low excitation lines agree well withthose derived from the high excitation lines of the OI IR triplet and from the [OI] λ 6300 Å line. Our new oxygen abundances show a smooth extension of previouslyknown trends of [O/Fe] versus [Fe/H] in disk stars to much lower metallicities, with a slope of ?0.31± 0.11. The [O/Fe] ratio increasesfrom 0.6 to 1 between [Fe/H] =?1.5 and ?3.0. Comparison with oxygen abundances in giant stars of the same metallicity imply that the lattermay have suffered a process of oxygen depletion. We briefly discussthe impact of these results on the yields of Type II SNe in the early Galaxy and on the age of globular clusters.     

High Resolution Optical Spectroscopy of an Intriguing High-Latitude B-Type Star HD119608

We present an LTE analysis of high resolution echelle optical spectra obtained with the 3.9-m Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) and the UCLES spectrograph for a B1Ib high galactic latitude supergiant HD119608. A fresh determination of the atmospheric parameters using line-blanketed LTE model atmospheres and spectral synthesis provided T_eff = 23 300 ± 1000 K, log g = 3.0 ± 0.3, and the microturbulent velocity ξ = 6.0 ± 1.0 kms^?1 and [Fe/H] = 0.16. The rotational velocity of the star was derived fromC, O, N, Al, and Fe lines as v sin i = 55.8 ± 1.3 kms^?1. Elemental abundances were obtained for 10 different species. He, Al, and P abundances of the star were determined for the first time. In the spectra, hot post-AGB status as well as the Pop I characteristics of the star were examined. The approximately solar carbon and oxygen abundances, along with mild excess in helium and nitrogen abundances do not stipulate a CNO processed surface composition, hence a hot post-AGB status. The LTE abundances analysis also indicates solar sulphur and moderately enriched magnesium abundances. The average abundances of B dwarfs of well studied OB associations and Population I stars show a striking resemblance to abundances obtained for HD119608 in this study. This may imply a runaway status for the star.     

Spectral observations using a BTA telescope of chemically peculiar stars in the spectral region near the Li I (6708 Å) resonance doublet

New spectral observations of chemically peculiar (CP) magnetic stars were obtained using an NES echelle spectrometer with a BTA telescope in the Special Astrophysical Observatory (Russian Academy of Sciences). Several stars were shown to have anomalous Li abundances. Testing and monitoring the stars with Doppler shifts Vsini > 10 km/s indicated that the lithium 6708 Å line was variable in the spectra of some roaAP-CP stars. To distinguish variable features in the spectra, the dispersogram technique was used. The most peculiar among the stars studied is HD 12098. The strong and variable lithium 6708 Å line was detected in the spectrum of this star. The star has been shown to have greatly different lithium abundances in two rotation phases corresponding to opposite surface areas. As mentioned earlier, a similar behavior of the Li blend was found in the spectra of HD 83368 and HD 60435 which have lithium spots on their surface. Spectral observations of slowly rotating CP stars with the Doppler shifts Vsini < 10 km/s revealed the strong and nonvariable lithium 6708 Å line in the spectra of these stars. Quantitative spectral analysis using the Li I 6708 Å resonance doublet and the Li I 6103 Å line shows the lithium abundance, as determined by the 6103 Å line, to be somewhat greater than that determined by the 6708 Å line. A higher ratio of ⁶Li/⁷Li amounting to ～0.3–0.5 was found in these stars. ⁶Li production is assumed to be due to spallation reactions on the surface of magnetic CP stars; this isotope ratio remained in strong magnetic fields.     

Influence of departures from LTE on calcium,titanium, and iron abundance determinations in cool giants of different metallicities

We have performed statistical equilibrium calculations for Ca I–Ca II, Ti I–Ti II, and Fe I–Fe II by taking into account the nonequilibrium line formation conditions (the non-LTE approach) in model atmospheres of giant stars with effective temperatures 4000 K ≤ T _eff ≤ 5000 K and metal abundances ?4 ≤ [Fe/H] ≤ 0. The dependence of departures from LTE on atmospheric parameters has been analyzed. We present the non-LTE abundance corrections for 28 Ca I lines, 42 Ti I lines, 54 Ti II lines, and 262 Fe I lines and a three-dimensional interpolation code to obtain the non-LTE correction online for an individual line and specified atmospheric parameters.     

Metallicity measurements using atomic lines in M and K dwarf stars

We report the first survey of chemical abundances in M and K dwarf stars using atomic absorption lines in high-resolution spectra. We have measured Fe and Ti abundances in 35 M and K dwarf stars using equivalent widths measured from  λ/Δλ≈ 33 000  spectra. Our analysis takes advantage of recent improvements in model atmospheres of low-temperature dwarf stars. The stars have temperatures between 3300 and 4700 K, with most cooler than 4100 K. They cover an iron abundance range of  −2.44 < [Fe/H] < +0.16  . Our measurements show [Ti/Fe] decreasing with increasing [Fe/H], a trend similar to that measured for warmer stars, where abundance analysis techniques have been tested more thoroughly. This study is a step towards the observational calibration of procedures to estimate the metallicity of low-mass dwarf stars using photometric and low-resolution spectral indices.     

Analysis of spectra of V471 Tau and HD 115404

We analyze the chemical composition of the atmospheres of a single K-type star HD 115404 and the secondary component of the V471 Tau variable. We use the technique of modeling of synthetic spectra to analyze the high-resolution spectra of these stars, taken with the RTT 150 Russian-Turkish telescope and find the abundances of 23 and 17 elements in the atmospheres of HD 115404 and V471 Tau, respectively. We demonstrate the lack of composition anomalies in the HD 115404 and show it to be consistent with the published data, inferred from equivalent widths of spectral lines. We find the abundances of 15 elements from Na to Ba to be consistent with the metallicity of the atmosphere of V471 Tau ([Fe/H] = −0.22 ± 0.12dex), which differs significantly from the average metallicity of the Hyades cluster. We show the existence of strong carbon and oxygen overabundances (by more than 1dex) due to the enrichment of the secondary by the nucleosynthesis products during the common-envelope stage of the system. On the whole, we demonstrate that V471 Tau and the other precataclysmic variables share similar composition anomalies.     

Spectroscopy of high proper motion stars in the ground-based UV

Based on high quality spectral data (spectral resolution R≈60000) within the wavelength range of 3550–5000 Å we determined main parameters (effective temperature, surface gravity, microturbulent velocity, and content of chemical elements including heavy metals from Sr to Dy) for 14 metal-deficient G–K stars with large proper motions. The stars studied have a high range of metallicity: [Fe/H]=?0.3÷?2.9. Abundances of Mg, Al, Sr and Ba were calculated with non-LTE line-formation effects accounted for. The abundance both of radioactive element Th and the r-process element Eu were determined through synthetic spectrum calculations. We selected stars that belong to different galactic populations according to the kinematical criterion and parameters determined by us. We found that the studied stars with large proper motions refer to different components of the Galaxy: thin, thick disks and halo. The chemical composition of the star BD+80°?245 far from the galactic plane agrees with its belonging to the accreted halo. For the giant HD?115444 we obtained [Fe/H]=?2.91, an underabundance of Mn, an overabundance of heavy metals from Ba to Dy, and especially a high excess of the r-process element europium: [Eu/Fe]=+1.26. Contrary to its chemical composition typical for halo stars, HD?115444 belongs to the disc population according to its kinematic parameters.     

New Non-Gaussian Feature in COBE-DMR 4 Year Maps

Recent determinations of the abundance of the light-element Li in very metal-poor stars show that its intrinsic dispersion is essentially zero and that the random error in the estimated mean Li abundance is negligible. However, a decreasing trend in the Li abundance toward lower metallicity indicates that the primordial abundance of Li can be inferred only after allowing for nucleosynthesis processes that must have been in operation in the early history of the Galaxy. We show that the observed Li versus Fe trend provides a strong discriminant between alternative models for Galactic chemical evolution of the light elements at early epochs. We critically assess current systematic uncertainties and determine the primordial Li abundance within new, much tighter limits: &parl0;Li&solm0;H&parr0;p=1.23+0.68-0.32x10-10. We show that the Li constraint on OmegaB is now limited as much by uncertainties in the nuclear cross sections used in big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) calculations as by the observed abundance itself. A clearer understanding of systematics allows us to sharpen the comparison with 4He and deuterium and the resulting test of BBN.     

Chemical composition and stratification of chemical elements in the atmosphere of the Ap star HD 8441

We present the results of our abundance analysis for the atmosphere of the chemically peculiar Ap star HD 8441. HD 8441 is interesting in that the lines of rare-earth elements in its spectrum are weak and the longitudinal magnetic field component is small, being only several hundred gauss. Our estimates of the evolutionary status for HD 8441 have confirmed that it belongs to the group of Ap stars with weak lines of rare-earth elements in their spectra that leave the main sequence. A stratification analysis of the atmosphere of HD 8441 assuming a stepwise distribution of elements with depth reveals a nonuniform distribution of Si, Ca, Cr,Mn, and Fe with a significant increase in elemental abundances in deeper layers. The derived distribution qualitatively agrees with predictions of the theory of diffusive separation of elements under the action of radiation pressure forces and gravity. Comparison of the chemical composition and evolutionary status of HD 8441 with those of the stars HD 66318 and HD 144897 with strong magnetic fields shows that their atmospheres differ mainly by the abundances of rare-earth elements. The iron-peak elements exhibit large overabundances irrespective of the magnetic field strength.     

Formation of galactic subsystems in light of the magnesium abundance in field stars: The thick disk

The space velocities and Galactic orbital elements of stars calculated from the currently available high-accuracy observations in our compiled catalog of spectroscopic magnesium abundances in dwarfs and subgiants in the solar neighborhood are used to identify thick-disk objects. We analyze the relations between chemical, spatial, and kinematic parameters of F–G stars in the identified subsystem. The relative magnesium abundances in thick-disk stars are shown to lie within the range 0.0 < [Mg/Fe] < 0.5 and to decrease with increasingmetallicity starting from [Fe/H] ≈ ?1.0. This is interpreted as evidence for a longer duration of the star formation process in the thick disk. We have found vertical gradients in metallicity (grad_Z[Fe/H] = ?0.13 ± 0.04 kpc^?1) and relative magnesium abundance (grad_Z[Mg/Fe] = 0.06 ± 0.02 kpc^?1), which can be present in the subsystem only in the case of its formation in a slowly collapsing protogalaxy. However, the gradients in the thick disk disappear if the stars whose orbits lie in the Galactic plane, but have high eccentricities and low azimuthal space velocities atypical of the thin-disk stars are excluded from the sample. The large spread in relative magnesium abundance (?0.3 < [Mg/Fe] < 0.5) in the stars of the metal-poor “tail” of the thick disk, which constitute ≈8% of the subsystem, can be explained in terms of their formation inside isolated interstellar clouds that interacted weakly with the matter of a single protogalactic cloud. We have found a statistically significant negative radial gradient in relative magnesium abundance in the thick disk (grad_R[Mg/Fe] = ?0.03 ± 0.01 kpc^{? 1}) instead of the expected positive gradient. The smaller perigalactic orbital radii and the higher eccentricities for magnesium-richer stars, which, among other stars, are currently located in a small volume of the Galactic space near the Sun, are assumed to be responsible for the gradient inversion. A similar, but statistically less significant inversion is also observed in the subsystem for the radial metallicity gradient.     

Non-LTE Effects of Helium Lines in Late-B and A Stars

A helium model atom that includes 55 He I levels and the He II ground level in a detailed consideration has been constructed to investigate the departures from local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) in the formation of helium lines in stars with effective temperatures from 9300 to 20 000 K. For eight stars with effective temperatures from 9380 to 17 500 K the helium abundance has been determined from He I lines. The neutral helium lines in B stars cannot be described under LTE conditions using the common helium abundance. Furthermore, the profiles of several lines cannot be described in terms of the LTE approach at all. In contrast, a satisfactory coincidence of the theoretical and observed profiles for the entire set of helium lines observed in a wide spectral range can be achieved using virtually the same helium abundance by taking into account the departures from LTE. The LTE and non-LTE helium abundances can differ by up to a factor of 2–3, depending on the stellar parameters. The higher the stellar temperature, the stronger the departures from LTE. As a rule, the lines in the blue spectral region are less affected by non- LTE effects. In the atmospheres of six stars the helium abundance corresponds, within the error limits, to the present-day solar value. A helium underabundance is observed in the atmospheres of Sirius and HD 72660 classified as hot Am stars.     

Influence of departures from LTE on oxygen abundance determination in the atmospheres of A-K stars

We have performed non-LTE calculations for O I with a multilevel model atom using currently available atomic data for a set of parameters corresponding to stars of spectral types from A to K. Departures from LTE lead to a strengthening of O I lines, and the difference between the non-LTE and LTE abundances (non-LTE correction) is negative. The non-LTE correction does not exceed 0.05 dex in absolute value for visible O I lines for main-sequence stars in the entire temperature range. For the infrared O I 7771 Å line, the non-LTE correction can reach ?1.9 dex. The departures from LTE are enhanced with increasing temperature and decreasing surface gravity. We have derived the oxygen abundance for three A-type mainsequence stars with reliably determined parameters (Vega, Sirius, HD 32115). For each of the stars, allowance for the departures from LTE leads to a decrease in the difference between the abundances from infrared and visible lines, for example, for Vega from 1.17 dex in LTE to 0.14 dex when abandoning LTE. In the case of Procyon and the Sun, inelastic collisions with HI affect the statistical equilibrium of OI, and agreement between the abundances from different lines is achieved when using Drawin’s classical formalism. Based on the O I 6300, 6158, 7771-5, and 8446 Å lines of the solar spectrum, we have derived the mean oxygen abundance log ? = 8.74 ± 0.05 using a classical plane-parallel model solar atmosphere and log ? _+3D = 8.78 ± 0.03 by applying the 3D corrections taken from the literature.     

A Study on the Abundance Distribution of Heavy Elements in Metal-poor Stars by the Parameterization Method

Based on a large amount of observed data of element abundances in metal-poor stars, taking the abundance distribution of heavy elements in the solar system as a standard, and selecting Sr, Ba and Eu as the typical elements of the three nucleosynthetic processes in metal-poor stars, namely the weak sprocess, main s-process and r-process, we have studied the contributions of the three kinds of neutron-capture processes to the abundance distribution of heavy elements in metal-poor stars, with the parameterization method. It is found that the higher the metal abundance, the greater the contributions of the weak s-process and the chief s-process to the abundances of lighter neutron-capture elements. The heavier neutron-capture elements are mainly produced by the r-process and the chief s-process; and that at low metallicity, the abundances of heavy neutron-capture elements are mainly produced by the r-process. In the early Galaxy, the weak s-process has almost no contribution to the element abundance.     

Lithium Abundances in 11 Solar-type Stars

We present determinations of fundamental parameters and lithium abundances in eleven solar-type stars through observations of the Li I λ6707.8Å. The correlations between the abundance of lithium and that of other elements (Ca, K and Fe) are also discussed. The analysis of our data indicates that the maximum lithium abundance decreases with decreasingT _eff, and also decreases with increasing age. The sun is just one of the stars with low lithium abundance. One of the sample stars shows a high lithium abundance of as much as 2.34 dex. The plot of lithium abundance versus [Ca/H] is similar to that versus [Fe/H]. Lithium seems depleted more quickly than potassium in the cool solar-type stars. The correlation between the lithium abundance and the other stellar characteristics, such as absolute visual magnitude, does not seem very strong. The large scatter present at each color cannot be uniquely attributed to different initial compositions or to pure age effect. Other complex mechanisms may exist to provide different amounts of lithium depletion for stars with properties similar to the sun.     

A search for previously unrecognized metal-poor subdwarfs in the Hipparcos astrometric catalogue

We have identified 317 stars included in the Hipparcos astrometric catalogue that have parallaxes measured to a precision of better than 15 per cent, and the location of which in the ( M _V ,( B − V ) _T ) diagram implies a metallicity comparable to or less than that of the intermediate-abundance globular cluster M5. We have undertaken an extensive literature search to locate Strömgren, Johnson/Cousins and Walraven photometry for over 120 stars. In addition, we present new UBV ( RI )_C photometry of 201 of these candidate halo stars, together with similar data for a further 14 known metal-poor subdwarfs. These observations provide the first extensive data set of R _C I _C photometry of metal-poor, main-sequence stars with well-determined trigonometric parallaxes. Finally, we have obtained intermediate-resolution optical spectroscopy of 175 stars.
47 stars still lack sufficient supplementary observations for population classification; however, we are able to estimate abundances for 270 stars, or over 80 per cent of the sample. The overwhelming majority have near-solar abundance, with their inclusion in the present sample stemming from errors in the colours listed in the Hipparcos catalogue. Only 44 stars show consistent evidence of abundances below [Fe/H]=−1.0 . Nine are additions to the small sample of metal-poor subdwarfs with accurate photometry. We consider briefly the implication of these results for cluster main-sequence fitting.