scholarly journals 3He+ in galactic H II regions: Possible evidence for non-convective mixing in low mass stars

1984 ◽  
Vol 105 ◽  
pp. 567-570
Author(s):  
Robert T. Rood ◽  
Thomas M. Bania ◽  
Thomas L. Wilson

We have detected the 8.7 GHz hyperfine line of 3He+ in the HII regions W43, W51, and W3 and obtained significant upper limits for M17, W49, and Orion A. Even though the abundances derived from measured line parameters can have large uncertainty due to the detailed structure of the sources, it seems almost certain that the 3He+ abundance in W3, 12 kpc from the galactic center is significantly higher than in sources closer to the galactic center. If this is the result of general chemical evolution of the galaxy, it is exactly the opposite of what is expected.

1977 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 79-101
Author(s):  
Jean Audouze

AbstractFrom observations of the galactic center using various techniques radioastronomy, millimeter waves (molecules) – infrared and gamma rays, the interstellar matter of this region* appears to have been strongly processed into stars : the gas density is much lower than in the solar neighbourhood. From CO measurements one knows that there are many molecular clouds such as SgrB2 where stars are forming now. From IR measurements, there are some indication that low mass stars are relatively more numerous in such regions than in the external regions of the galaxy. Finally the heavy element abundances show three important features (i) the possibility of strong enhancements in elements such as N and in a less extent 0 and Ne (the so called abundance gradients), (ii) Some specific enhancements of isotopes such43C,44N and also47O relative to42C,45N and43O (iii) Deuterium seems to have a lower abundance than in other parts of the galaxy such as the solar neighbourhood. Simple models of chemical evolution have been designed to account for such features and are rewiewed here.


2000 ◽  
Vol 198 ◽  
pp. 540-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Chiappini ◽  
Francesca Matteucci

In this work we present the predictions of a modified version of the ‘two-infall model’ (Chiappini et al. 1997 - CMG) for the evolution of 3He, 4He and D in the solar vicinity, as well as their distributions along the Galactic disk. In particular, we show that when allowing for extra-mixing process in low mass stars (M < 2.5 M⊙), as predicted by Charbonnel and do Nascimento (1998), a long standing problem in chemical evolution is solved, namely: the overproduction of 3He by the chemical evolution models as compared to the observed values in the sun and in the interstellar medium. Moreover, we show that chemical evolution models can constrain the primordial value of the deuterium abundance and that a value of (D/H)p < 3 × 10—5 is suggested by the present model. Finally, adopting the primordial 4He abundance suggested by Viegas et al. (1999), we obtain a value for ΔY/ΔZ ≃ 2 and a better agreement with the solar 4He abundance.


2017 ◽  
Vol 600 ◽  
pp. A13 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Astudillo-Defru ◽  
X. Delfosse ◽  
X. Bonfils ◽  
T. Forveille ◽  
C. Lovis ◽  
...  

Context. Atmospheric magnetic fields in stars with convective envelopes heat stellar chromospheres, and thus increase the observed flux in the Ca ii H and K doublet. Starting with the historical Mount Wilson monitoring program, these two spectral lines have been widely used to trace stellar magnetic activity, and as a proxy for rotation period (Prot) and consequently for stellar age. Monitoring stellar activity has also become essential in filtering out false-positives due to magnetic activity in extra-solar planet surveys. The Ca ii emission is traditionally quantified through the R'HK-index, which compares the chromospheric flux in the doublet to the overall bolometric flux of the star. Much work has been done to characterize this index for FGK-dwarfs, but M dwarfs – the most numerous stars of the Galaxy – were left out of these analyses and no calibration of their Ca ii H and K emission to an R'HK exists to date. Aims. We set out to characterize the magnetic activity of the low- and very-low-mass stars by providing a calibration of the R'HK-index that extends to the realm of M dwarfs, and by evaluating the relationship between R'HK and the rotation period. Methods. We calibrated the bolometric and photospheric factors for M dwarfs to properly transform the S-index (which compares the flux in the Ca ii H and K lines to a close spectral continuum) into the R'HK. We monitored magnetic activity through the Ca ii H and K emission lines in the HARPS M dwarf sample. Results. The R'HK index, like the fractional X-ray luminosity LX/Lbol, shows a saturated correlation with rotation, with saturation setting in around a ten days rotation period. Above that period, slower rotators show weaker Ca ii activity, as expected. Under that period, the R'HK index saturates to approximately 10-4. Stellar mass modulates the Ca ii activity, with R'HK showing a constant basal activity above 0.6 M⊙ and then decreasing with mass between 0.6 M⊙ and the fully-convective limit of 0.35 M⊙. Short-term variability of the activity correlates with its mean level and stars with higher R'HK indexes show larger R'HK variability, as previously observed for earlier spectral types.


2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (S255) ◽  
pp. 336-340
Author(s):  
Anna Frebel ◽  
Jarrett L. Johnson ◽  
Volker Bromm

AbstractConstraints on the chemical yields of the first stars and supernova can be derived by examining the abundance patterns of different types of metal-poor stars. We show how metal-poor stars are employed to derive constraints of the formation of the first low-mass stars by testing a fine-structure line cooling theory. The concept of stellar archaeology, that stellar abundances truly reflect the chemical composition of the earliest times, is then addressed. The accretion history of a sample of metal-poor stars is examined in detail in a cosmological context, and found to have no impact on the observed abundances. Predictions are made for the lowest possible Fe and Mg abundances observable in the Galaxy, [Fe/H]min = −7.5 and [Mg/H]min = −5.5. The absence of stars below these values is so far consistent with a top-heavy IMF. These predictions are directly relevant for future surveys and the next generation of telescopes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 627 ◽  
pp. A16 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. T. Zeegers ◽  
E. Costantini ◽  
D. Rogantini ◽  
C. P. de Vries ◽  
H. Mutschke ◽  
...  

Context. The composition and properties of interstellar silicate dust are not well understood. In X-rays, interstellar dust can be studied in detail by making use of the fine structure features in the Si K-edge. The features in the Si K-edge offer a range of possibilities to study silicon-bearing dust, such as investigating the crystallinity, abundance, and the chemical composition along a given line of sight. Aims. We present newly acquired laboratory measurements of the silicon K-edge of several silicate-compounds that complement our measurements from our earlier pilot study. The resulting dust extinction profiles serve as templates for the interstellar extinction that we observe. The extinction profiles were used to model the interstellar dust in the dense environments of the Galaxy. Methods. The laboratory measurements, taken at the Soleil synchrotron facility in Paris, were adapted for astrophysical data analysis and implemented in the SPEX spectral fitting program. The models were used to fit the spectra of nine low-mass X-ray binaries located in the Galactic center neighborhood in order to determine the dust properties along those lines of sight. Results. Most lines of sight can be fit well by amorphous olivine. We also established upper limits on the amount of crystalline material that the modeling allows. We obtained values of the total silicon abundance, silicon dust abundance, and depletion along each of the sightlines. We find a possible gradient of 0.06 ± 0.02 dex/kpc for the total silicon abundance versus the Galactocentric distance. We do not find a relation between the depletion and the extinction along the line of sight.


2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S265) ◽  
pp. 81-89
Author(s):  
Piercarlo Bonifacio

AbstractThe cosmic microwave background and the cosmic expansion can be interpreted as evidence that the Universe underwent an extremely hot and dense phase about 14 Gyr ago. The nucleosynthesis computations tell us that the Universe emerged from this state with a very simple chemical composition: H, 2H, 3He, 4He, and traces of 7Li. All other nuclei where synthesised at later times. Our stellar evolution models tell us that, if a low-mass star with this composition had been created (a “zero-metal” star) at that time, it would still be shining on the Main Sequence today. Over the last 40 years there have been many efforts to detect such primordial stars but none has so-far been found. The lowest metallicity stars known have a metal content, Z, which is of the order of 10−4Z⊙. These are also the lowest metallicity objects known in the Universe. This seems to support the theories of star formation which predict that only high mass stars could form with a primordial composition and require a minimum metallicity to allow the formation of low-mass stars. Yet, since absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, we cannot exclude the existence of such low-mass zero-metal stars, at present. If we have not found the first Galactic stars, as a by product of our searches we have found their direct descendants, stars of extremely low metallicity (Z ≤ 10−3Z⊙). The chemical composition of such stars contains indirect information on the nature of the stars responsible for the nucleosynthesis of the metals. Such a fossil record allows us a glimpse of the Galaxy at a look-back time equivalent to redshift z = 10, or larger. The last ten years have been full of exciting discoveries in this field, which I will try to review in this contribution.


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (S321) ◽  
pp. 19-21
Author(s):  
P. Barmby ◽  
M. Rafiei Ravandi

AbstractThe mid-infrared provides a unique view of galaxy stellar populations, sensitive to both the integrated light of old, low-mass stars and to individual dusty mass-losing stars. We present results from an extended Spitzer/IRAC survey of M31 with total lengths of 6.6 and 4.4 degrees along the major and minor axes, respectively. The integrated surface brightness profile proves to be surprisingly difficult to trace in the outskirts of the galaxy, but we can also investigate the disk/halo transition via a star count profile, with careful correction for foreground and background contamination. Our point-source catalog allows us to report on mid-infrared properties of individual objects in the outskirts of M31, via cross-correlation with PAndAS, WISE, and other catalogs.


Author(s):  
Masato Tsuboi ◽  
Yoshimi Kitamura ◽  
Kenta Uehara ◽  
Atsushi Miyazaki ◽  
Ryosuke Miyawaki ◽  
...  

Abstract We have observed the compact H ii region complex nearest to the dynamical center of the Galaxy, G−0.02−0.07, using ALMA in the H42α recombination line, CS J = 2–1, H13CO+J = 1–0, and SiO v = 0, J = 2–1 emission lines, and the 86 GHz continuum emission. The H ii regions HII-A to HII-C in the cluster are clearly resolved into a shell-like feature with a bright half and a dark half in the recombination line and continuum emission. The analysis of the absorption features in the molecular emission lines show that H ii-A, B, and C are located on the near side of the “Galactic center 50 km s−1 molecular cloud” (50MC), but HII-D is located on the far side of it. The electron temperatures and densities ranges are Te = 5150–5920 K and ne = 950–2340 cm−3, respectively. The electron temperatures in the bright half are slightly lower than those in the dark half, while the electron densities in the bright half are slightly higher than those in the dark half. The H ii regions are embedded in the ambient molecular gas. There are some molecular gas components compressed by a C-type shock wave around the H ii regions. From the line width of the H42α recombination line, the expansion velocities of HII-A, HII-B, HII-C, and HII-D are estimated to be Vexp = 16.7, 11.6, 11.1, and 12.1 km s−1, respectively. The expansion timescales of HII-A, HII-B, HII-C, and HII-D are estimated to be tage ≃ 1.4 × 104, 1.7 × 104, 2.0 × 104, and 0.7 × 104 yr, respectively. The spectral types of the central stars from HII-A to HII-D are estimated to be O8V, O9.5V, O9V, and B0V, respectively. These derived spectral types are roughly consistent with the previous radio estimation. The positional relation among the H ii regions, the SiO molecule enhancement area, and Class-I maser spots suggest that a shock wave caused by a cloud–cloud collision propagated along the line from HII-C to HII-A in the 50MC. The shock wave would have triggered the massive star formation.


2005 ◽  
Vol 49 (11) ◽  
pp. 871-883 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. R. Yungelson ◽  
A. V. Tutukov

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