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An Observational Perspective On Some Aspects Of Early Stellar Nucleosynthesis
Some basic abundance results for low metallicity stars that were formed in the early days of the Milky Way Galaxy are summarized. Discussion is centered on two nucleosynthetic groups: the light a elements (Mg, Si, and Ca), and the neutron-capture elements (those heavier than the Fe group, atomic numbers greater than 30). Emphasis is placed on the present state of stellar spectroscopic and atomic transition data.Astronom
The Early Formation, Evolution and Age of the Neutron-Capture Elements in the Early Galaxy
Abundance observations indicate the presence of rapid-neutron capture (i.e.,
r-process) elements in old Galactic halo and globular cluster stars. These
observations demonstrate that the earliest generations of stars in the Galaxy,
responsible for neutron-capture synthesis and the progenitors of the halo
stars, were rapidly evolving. Abundance comparisons among several halo stars
show that the heaviest neutron-capture elements (including Ba and heavier) are
consistent with a scaled solar system r-process abundance distribution, while
the lighter such elements do not conform to the solar pattern. These
comparisons suggest two r-process sites or at least two different sets of
astrophysical conditions. The large star-to-star scatter observed in the
neutron-capture/iron ratios at low metallicities -- which disappears with
increasing [Fe/H] -- suggests an early, chemically unmixed and inhomogeneous
Galaxy. The stellar abundances indicate a change from the r-process to the slow
neutron capture (i.e., s-) process at higher metallicities in the Galaxy. The
detection of thorium in halo and globular cluster stars offers a promising,
independent age-dating technique that can put lower limits on the age of the
Galaxy.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures; To appear in the proceedings of the 20th Texas
Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics, J. C. Wheeler & H. Martel (eds.
Galactic Cosmochronometry from Radioactive Elements in the Spectra of Very Old Metal-Poor Stars
In a short review of neutron-capture elemental abundances in Galactic halo
stars, emphasis is placed on the use of these elements to estimate the age of
the Galactic halo. Two prominent characteristics of neutron-capture elements in
halo stars are their large star-to-star scatter in the overall abundance level
with respect to lighter elements, and the dominance of r-process abundance
patterns at lowest stellar metallicities. The r-process abundance signature
potentially allows the direct determination of the age of the earliest Galactic
halo nucleosynthesis events, but further developments in r-process theory, high
resolution spectroscopy of very metal-poor stars, and in basic atomic data are
needed to narrow the uncertainties in age estimates. Attention is brought to
the importance of accurate transition probabilities in neutron-capture element
cosmochronometry. Recent progress in the transition probabilities of rare earth
elements is discussed, along with suggestions for future work on other species.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures; To appear in Physica Script
Molecular column densities in selected model atmospheres
From an examination of predicted column densities, the following conclusions were drawn: (1) The SiO ought to be visible in carbon stars which were generated from triple alpha burning, but absent from carbon stars generated from the CNO bi-cycle. (2) Variation in the observed relative strengths of TiO and ZrO is indicative of real differences in the ratio Ti/Zr. (3) The TiO/ZrO ratio shows a small variation as C/O and effective temperature is changed. (4) Column density of silicon dicarbide (SiC2) is sensitive to abundance, temperature, and gravity; hence all relationships between the strength of SiC2 and other stellar parameters will show appreciable scatter. There is however, a substantial luminosity effect present in the SiC2 column densities. (5) Unexpectedly, SiC2 is anti-correlated with C2. (6) The presence of SiC2 in a carbon star eliminates the possibility of these stars having temperatures greater than or equal to 3000 K, or being produced through the CNO bi-cycle
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