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- Norris, John E., et al.
(författare)
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HE 0557-4840 : Ultra-metal-poor and carbon-rich
- 2007
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 670:1, s. 774-788
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report the discovery and high-resolution, high-S/N spectroscopic analysis of the ultra-metal-poor red giant HE 0557-4840, which is the third most heavy-element-deficient star currently known. Its atmospheric parameters are Teff=4900 K, logg=2.2, and [Fe/H]=-4.75. This brings the number of stars with [Fe/H]<-4.0 to three, and the discovery of HE 0557-4840 suggests that the metallicity distribution function of the Galactic halo does not have a ``gap'' between [Fe/H]=-4.0, where several stars are known, and the two most metal-poor stars, at [Fe/H]~-5.3. HE 0557-4840 is carbon rich ([C/Fe]=+1.6), a property shared by all three objects with [Fe/H]<-4.0, suggesting that the well-known increase of carbon relative to iron with decreasing [Fe/H] reaches its logical conclusion (ubiquitous carbon richness) at lowest abundance. We also present abundances (nine) and limits (nine) for a further 18 elements. For species having well-measured abundances or strong upper limits, HE 0557-4840 is ``normal'' in comparison with the bulk of the stellar population at [Fe/H]~-4.0, with the possible exception of Co. We discuss the implications of these results for chemical enrichment at the earliest times, in the context of single- (``mixing and fallback'') and two-component enrichment models. While neither offers a clear solution, the latter appears closer to the mark. Further data are required to determine the oxygen abundance and improve that of Co, and hence more strongly constrain the origin of this object. Based on observations collected at ANU's 2.3 m telescope on Siding Spring Mountain, Australia, and European Southern Observatory, Paranal, Chile (proposal 276.D-5041).
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| 2. |
- Schoerck, T, et al.
(författare)
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The stellar content of the Hamburg/ESO survey V. The metallicity distribution function of the Galactic halo
- 2009
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 507:2, s. 817-832
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We determine the metallicity distribution function (MDF) of the Galactic halo by means of a sample of 1638 metal-poor stars selected from the Hamburg/ESO objective-prism survey (HES). The sample was corrected for minor biases introduced by the strategy for spectroscopic follow-up observations of the metal-poor candidates, namely "best and brightest stars first". Comparison of the metallicities [Fe/H] of the stars determined from moderate-resolution (i.e., R similar to 2000) follow-up spectra with results derived from abundance analyses based on high-resolution spectra (i.e., R > 20 000) shows that the [Fe/H] estimates used for the determination of the halo MDF are accurate to within 0.3 dex, once highly C-rich stars are eliminated. We determined the selection function of the HES, which must be taken into account for a proper comparison between the HES MDF with MDFs of other stellar populations or those predicted by models of Galactic chemical evolution. The latter show a reasonable agreement with the overall shape of the HES MDF for [Fe/H] > -3.6, but only a model of Salvadori et al. (2007) with a critical metallicity for low-mass star formation of Z(cr) = 10(-3.4) Z(circle dot) reproduces the sharp drop at [Fe/H] similar to -3.6 present in the HES MDF. Although currently about ten stars at [Fe/H] < -3.6 are known, the evidence for the existence of a tail of the halo MDF extending to [Fe/H] similar to -5.5 is weak from the sample considered in this paper, because it only includes two stars [Fe/H] < -3.6. Therefore, a comparison with theoretical models has to await larger statistically complete and unbiased samples. A comparison of the MDF of Galactic globular clusters and of dSph satellites to the Galaxy shows qualitative agreement with the halo MDF, derived from the HES, once the selection function of the latter is included. However, statistical tests show that the differences between these are still highly significant.
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