The origin and abundances of the chemical elements revisited

Summary The basic scheme of nucleosynthesis (building of heavy elements from light ones) has held up very well since it was first proposed more than 30 years ago by E.M. Burbidge, G.R. Burbidge, A.G.W. Cameron, W.A. Fowler, and F. Hoyle. Significant advances in the intervening years include (a) observations of elemental and a few isotopic ratios in many more extrasolar-system sites, including metal-poor dwarf irregular galaxies, where very little has happened, and supernovae and their remnants, where a great deal has happened, (b) recognition of the early universe as good for making all the elements up to helium, (c) resolution of heavy element burning in stars into separate carbon, neon, oxygen, and silicon burning, with fine tuning of the resulting abundances by explosive nucleosynthesis in outgoing supernova shock waves, (d) clarification of the role of Type I supernovae, (e) concordance between elements produced in short-lived and long-lived stars with those that increased quickly and slowly over the history of the galaxy, and (f) calibration of calculations of the evolution and explosion of massive stars against the detailed observations of SN 1987A. The discussion presupposes a reader (a) with some prior knowledge of astronomy at the level of recognizing what is meant by an A star and an AGB star and (b) with at least a mild interest in how we got to where we currently are.     

Chemical abundances of three new Ba stars from the Keck/HIRES spectra

Based on high resolution,high signal-to-noise(S/N)ratio spectra from Keck/HIRES,we have determined abundances of 20 elements for 18 Ba candidates.The parameter ...     

Chemical abundances from B-stars in the Magellanic Clouds

We observed near-Main-Sequence B-stars in the Magellanic Clouds with the 3.6 m telescope and CASPEC at La Silla. We obtained spectra of high resolution and high S/N-ratio. The stars are members of the blue globular clusters NGC 1818 (LMC) and NGC 330 (SMC). The spectra are used for differential abundance analyses using HER as galactic reference star. Apart from CNO the metals are underabundant by about a factor of three and four for the LMC and SMC star, respectively. The CNO pattern is interesting since in both stars oxygen is considerably more abundant than carbon.Based on observations collected at ESO, La Silla and on Calar Alto, Spain and on observations made with the International Ultraviolet Explorer.     

The abundances of the heavy elements

Abundance regularities for heavy nuclei (A>58) are investigated and formulated as abundance rules. Abundance values of carbonaceous chondrites of type 1 and 2 as well as most probable values for primordial abundances are listed. The abundance rules definitely require minor connections of the empirical values. A measurement of the (n, ) cross-section of Pd¹⁰⁴ would make possible to decide whether type-1 or type-2 carbonaceous chondrites have a more primitive elemental composition.Paper dedicated to Prof. Harold C. Urey on the occasion of his 80th birthday on 29 April, 1973.     

CNO abundances from pre-maximum spectra of Nova Cygni 1975

Coudé spectra of Nova Cygni 1975 have been compared with LTE synthetic spectra and abundances derived for carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. It was found that while carbon is not enhanced over the solar value, nitrogen and oxygen are substantially over-abundant by factors of at least 30 and 10, respectively. These results can be compared with analyses performed on the nebular spectrum.     

Parent stars of extrasolar planets – VIII. Chemical abundances for 18 elements in 31 stars

We present the results of detailed spectroscopic abundance analyses for 18 elements in 31 nearby stars with planets (SWPs). The resulting abundances are combined with other similar studies of nearby SWPs and compared to a sample of nearby stars without detected planets. We find some evidence for abundance differences between these two samples for Al, Si and Ti. Some of our results are in conflict with a recent study of SWPs in the SPOCS data base. We encourage continued study of the abundance patterns of SWPs to resolve these discrepancies.     

High-precision stellar abundances of the elements: methods and applications

Efficient spectrographs at large telescopes have made it possible to obtain high-resolution spectra of stars with high signal-to-noise ratio and advances in model atmosphere analyses have enabled estimates of high-precision differential abundances of the elements from these spectra, i.e. with errors in the range 0.01–0.03 dex for F, G, and K stars. Methods to determine such high-precision abundances together with precise values of effective temperatures and surface gravities from equivalent widths of spectral lines or by spectrum synthesis techniques are outlined, and effects on abundance determinations from using a 3D non-LTE analysis instead of a classical 1D LTE analysis are considered. The determination of high-precision stellar abundances of the elements has led to the discovery of unexpected phenomena and relations with important bearings on the astrophysics of galaxies, stars, and planets, i.e. (i) Existence of discrete stellar populations within each of the main Galactic components (disk, halo, and bulge) providing new constraints on models for the formation of the Milky Way. (ii) Differences in the relation between abundances and elemental condensation temperature for the Sun and solar twins suggesting dust-cleansing effects in proto-planetary disks and/or engulfment of planets by stars; (iii) Differences in chemical composition between binary star components and between members of open or globular clusters showing that star- and cluster-formation processes are more complicated than previously thought; (iv) Tight relations between some abundance ratios and age for solar-like stars providing new constraints on nucleosynthesis and Galactic chemical evolution models as well as the composition of terrestrial exoplanets. We conclude that if stellar abundances with precisions of 0.01–0.03 dex can be achieved in studies of more distant stars and stars on the giant and supergiant branches, many more interesting future applications, of great relevance to stellar and galaxy evolution, are probable. Hence, in planning abundance surveys, it is important to carefully balance the need for large samples of stars against the spectral resolution and signal-to-noise ratio needed to obtain high-precision abundances. Furthermore, it is an advantage to work differentially on stars with similar atmospheric parameters, because then a simple 1D LTE analysis of stellar spectra may be sufficient. However, when determining high-precision absolute abundances or differential abundance between stars having more widely different parameters, e.g. metal-poor stars compared to the Sun or giants to dwarfs, then 3D non-LTE effects must be taken into account.     

中等贫金属星高分辨率光谱分析Ⅱ.化学元素丰度

在第1篇论文的基础上，确定了样本星的恒星大气参数，得到这些星中9种元素的丰度。讨论了各种元素丰度随[Fe/H]的变化。平均的[Na/Fe]～－0．01dex，接近于太阳丰度。α元素Si和Ca具有几乎相同的丰度模式，而[Ti/Fe]弥散较大，但三者均有随[Fe/H]的减小而增加的趋势。铁峰元素V、Cr、Ni在不同丰度处有较大的弥散，[Cr/Fe]在所有样本星中均表现超丰；而[Mn/Fe]却明显过贫，且随金属丰度的增加而增加。     

Retrieval of ammonia abundances and cloud opacities on Jupiter from voyager IRIS spectra

A method is formulated to retrieve gaseous ammonia abundance and cloud opacities at 45 and 5 μm from Voyager IRIS data using a simplified atmospheric model and a two-stream radiative transfer approximation. Our goal is to obtain sufficient computational efficiency to permit global mapping of the relative horizontal variations of these parameters. A single cloud layer is invoked with a base pressure of 680 mbar and a scale height equal to 0.14 times the gas scale height. The NH₃ vertical distribution is modeled with a scale height equal to that of the cloud above 680 mbar and with a mole fraction independent of height at deeper levels. Measurements of brightness temperature as a function of emission angle from selected locations on the planet are used to verify the validity of the model and to constrain certain model parameters. It is found that the cloud particles can be treated as pure absorbers at 45 μm, but scattering must be included at 5 μm where a single scattering albedo of ∼0.75 is inferred. These results are used to develop a simple algorithm for the retrieval of ammonia abundance and cloud optical depths at 45 and 5 μm from measurements at 216, 225, and 2050 cm⁻¹.     

Stellar Yields and Chemical Evolution — I. Abundance Ratios and Delayed Mixing in the Solar Neighbourhood

We analyse two recent computations of Type II supernova nucleosynthesis by Woosley & Weaver (hereafter WW95) and Thielemann, Nomoto & Hashimoto (hereafter TNH96), focusing on the ability to reproduce the observed [Mg/Fe] ratios in various galaxy types. We show that the yields of oxygen and total metallicity are in good agreement. However, TNH96 models produce more magnesium in the intermediate and less iron in the upper mass range of Type II supernovae than WW95 models. To investigate the significance of these discrepancies for chemical evolution, we calculate simple stellar population yields for both sets of models and different initial mass function slopes. We conclude that the Mg yields of WW95 do not suffice to explain the [Mg/Fe] overabundance either in giant elliptical galaxies and bulges or in metal-poor stars in the solar neighbourhood and the Galactic halo. Calculating the chemical evolution in the solar neighbourhood according to the standard infall model, we find that, using WW95 and TNH96 nucleosynthesis, the solar magnesium abundance is underestimated by 29 and 7 per cent, respectively.   We include the relaxation of the instantaneous mixing approximation in chemical evolution models by splitting the gas component into two different phases. In additional simulations of the chemical evolution in the solar neighbourhood, we discuss various time-scales for the mixing of the stellar ejecta with the interstellar medium. We find that a delay of the order of 10⁸ yr leads to a better fit of the observational data in the [Mg/Fe]–[Fe/H] diagram without destroying the agreement with solar element abundances and the age–metallicity relation.     

The chemical evolution of globular clusters – I. Reactive elements and non-metals

We propose a new chemical evolution model aimed at explaining the chemical properties of globular clusters (GCs) stars. Our model depends upon the existence of (i) a peculiar pre-enrichment phase in the GC's parent galaxy associated with very low-metallicity Type II supernovae (SNe II) and (ii) localized inhomogeneous enrichment from a single Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) and intermediate-mass  (4–7 M_⊙)  asymptotic giant branch field stars. GC formation is then assumed to take place within this chemically peculiar region. Thus, in our model the first low-mass GC stars to form are those with peculiar abundances (i.e. O-depleted and Na-enhanced), while 'normal' stars (i.e. O-rich and Na-depleted) are formed in a second stage when self-pollution from SNe II occurs and the peculiar pollution from the previous phase is dispersed. In this study, we focus on three different GCs: NGC 6752, 6205 (M 13) and 2808. We demonstrate that, within this framework, a model can be constructed which is consistent with (i) the elemental abundance anticorrelations, (ii) isotopic abundance patterns and (iii) the extreme [O/Fe] values observed in NGC 2808 and M 13, without violating the global constraints of approximately unimodal [Fe/H] and C+N+O.     

A PCA approach to stellar abundances I. testing of the method validity

The derivation of element abundances of stars is a key step in detailed spectroscopic analysis. A spectroscopic method may suffer from errors associated with model simplifications. We have developed a new method of deriving the various element abundances of stars based on the calibration established from a group of standard stars. We perform principal component analysis(PCA) on a homogeneous library of stellar spectra, and then use machine learning to calibrate the relationship between principal components and element abundances. By testing with spectral libraries S4 N and MILES, we find that our procedure provides good consistency when spectra from a homogeneous set of observations are used, and it could be expanded to stars with quite a wide range of stellar parameters, with both dwarfs and giants. Moreover, we discuss the four key factors that have a significant impact on the results of derived element abundances,including the resolution of the spectra, wavelength range, the signal-to-noise ratio(S/N) of spectra and the number of principal components adopted.