13,855 research outputs found
Abundances of lithium, sodium, and potassium in Vega
Vega's photospheric abundances of Li, Na, and K were determined by using
considerably weak lines measured on the very high-S/N spectrum, while the
non-LTE correction and the gravity-darkening correction were adequately taken
into account. It was confirmed that these alkali elements are mildly
underabundant ([Li/H] ~ -0.6, [Na/H] ~ -0.3, and [K/H] ~ -0.2) compared to the
solar system values, as generally seen also in other metals. Since the tendency
of Li being more deficient than Na and K is qualitatively similar to what is
seen in typical interstellar cloud, the process of interstellar gas accretion
may be related with the abundance anomaly of Vega, as suspected in the case of
lambda Boo stars.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS; 8 pages, 9 figure
Constraints on the mass of a habitable planet with water of nebular origin
From an astrobiological point of view, special attention has been paid to the
probability of habitable planets in extrasolar systems. The purpose of this
study is to constrain a possible range of the mass of a terrestrial planet that
can get water. We focus on the process of water production through oxidation of
the atmospheric hydrogen--the nebular gas having been attracted
gravitationally--by oxide available at the planetary surface. For the water
production to work well on a planet, a sufficient amount of hydrogen and enough
high temperature to melt the planetary surface are needed. We have simulated
the structure of the atmosphere that connects with the protoplanetary nebula
for wide ranges of heat flux, opacity, and density of the nebular gas. We have
found both requirements are fulfilled for an Earth-mass planet for wide ranges
of the parameters. We have also found the surface temperature of planets of <=
0.3 Earth masses is lower than the melting temperature of silicate (~ 1500K).
On the other hand, a planet of more than several Earth masses becomes a gas
giant planet through runaway accretion of the nebular gas.Comment: 25 pages, 8 figures, to appear in the 01 September 2006 issue of Ap
Behavior of Li abundances in solar-analog stars II. Evidence of the connection with rotation and stellar activity
We previously attempted to ascertain why the Li I 6708 line-strengths of
Sun-like stars differ so significantly despite the superficial similarities of
stellar parameters. We carried out a comprehensive analysis of 118 solar
analogs and reported that a close connection exists between the Li abundance
A_Li and the line-broadening width (v_r+m; mainly contributed by rotational
effect), which led us to conclude that stellar rotation may be the primary
control of the surface Li content. To examine our claim in more detail, we
study whether the degree of stellar activity exhibits a similar correlation
with the Li abundance, which is expected because of the widely believed close
connection between rotation and activity. We measured the residual flux at the
line center of the strong Ca II 8542 line, r_0(8542), known to be a useful
index of stellar activity, for all sample stars using newly acquired spectra in
this near-IR region. The projected rotational velocity (v_e sin i) was
estimated by subtracting the macroturbulence contribution from v_r+m that we
had already established. A remarkable (positive) correlation was found in the
A_Li versus (vs.) r_0(8542) diagram as well as in both the r_0(8542) vs. v_e
sin i and A_Li vs. v_e sin i diagrams, as had been expected. With the
confirmation of rotation-dependent stellar activity, this clearly shows that
the surface Li abundances of these solar analogs progressively decrease as the
rotation rate decreases. Given this observational evidence, we conclude that
the depletion of surface Li in solar-type stars, probably caused by effective
envelope mixing, operates more efficiently as stellar rotation decelerates. It
may be promising to attribute the low-Li tendency of planet-host G dwarfs to
their different nature in the stellar angular momentum.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures; accepted for publication in Astron. Astrophys
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