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DOE OSTI · 2283489

Spectacular Nucleosynthesis from Early Massive Stars

Ji, Alexander P. (ORCID:0000000248638842)·Curtis, Sanjana (ORCID:000000023211303X)·Storm, Nicholas (ORCID:0000000252593974)·Chandra, Vedant (ORCID:0000000205728012)·C. Schlaufman, Kevin (ORCID:0000000157616779)·G. Stassun, Keivan (ORCID:0000000234819052)·Heger, Alexander (ORCID:0000000236841325)·Pignatari, Marco (ORCID:0000000290486010)·Price-Whelan, Adrian M. (ORCID:0000000308727098)·Bergemann, Maria (ORCID:0000000299085571)·Stringfellow, Guy S. (ORCID:0000000314793059)·Fröhlich, Carla (ORCID:0000000301912477)·Reggiani, Henrique (ORCID:0000000165336179)·Holmbeck, Erika M. (ORCID:0000000254636800)·Tayar, Jamie (ORCID:0000000248187885)·Shah, Shivani P. (ORCID:0000000233672394)·Griffith, Emily J. (ORCID:0000000193459977)·Laporte, Chervin F. P. (ORCID:0000000339227336)·Casey, Andrew R. (ORCID:0000000301740564)·Hawkins, Keith (ORCID:0000000214232174)·Horta, Danny (ORCID:0000000318562151)·Cerny, William (ORCID:0000000316977062)·Thibodeaux, Pierre (ORCID:0000000238673927)·Usman, Sam A. (ORCID:0000000309187185)·Amarante, João A. S. (ORCID:0000000276625475)·Beaton, Rachael L. (ORCID:0000000216918217)·Cargile, Phillip A. (ORCID:0000000216178917)·Chiappini, Cristina (ORCID:0000000312697282)·Conroy, Charlie (ORCID:0000000215908551)·Johnson, Jennifer A. (ORCID:0000000172581834)·Kollmeier, Juna A. (ORCID:0000000198521610)·Li, Haining (ORCID:0000000203899264)·Loebman, Sarah (ORCID:0000000332175967)·Meynet, Georges (ORCID:0000000161811323)·Bizyaev, Dmitry (ORCID:000000023601133X)·Brownstein, Joel R. (ORCID:0000000287251069)·Gupta, Pramod (ORCID:0000000239562102)·Morrison, Sean (ORCID:0000000267702627)·Pan, Kaike (ORCID:0000000228352556)·Ramirez, Solange V.·Rix, Hans-Walter (ORCID:0000000349969069)·Sánchez-Gallego, José (ORCID:0000000324863858)
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Abstract

Abstract Stars that formed with an initial mass of over 50 M ⊙ are very rare today, but they are thought to be more common in the early Universe. The fates of those early, metal-poor, massive stars are highly uncertain. Most are expected to directly collapse to black holes, while some may explode as a result of rotationally powered engines or the pair-creation instability. We present the chemical abundances of J0931+0038, a nearby low-mass star identified in early follow-up of the SDSS-V Milky Way Mapper, which preserves the signature of unusual nucleosynthesis from a massive star in the early Universe. J0931+0038 has a relatively high metallicity ([Fe/H] = −1.76 ± 0.13) but an extreme odd–even abundance pattern, with some of the lowest known abundance ratios of [N/Fe], [Na/Fe], [K/Fe], [Sc/Fe], and [Ba/Fe]. The implication is that a majority of its metals originated in a single extremely metal-poor nucleosynthetic source. An extensive search through nucleosynthesis predictions finds a clear preference for progenitors with initial mass >50 M ⊙ , making J0931+0038 one of the first observational constraints on nucleosynthesis in this mass range. However, the full abundance pattern is not matched by any models in the literature. J0931+0038 thus presents a challenge for the next generation of nucleosynthesis models and motivates the study of high-mass progenitor stars impacted by convection, rotation, jets, and/or binary companions. Though rare, more examples of unusual early nucleosynthesis in metal-poor stars should be found in upcoming large spectroscopic surveys.

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BibTeXRIS

Ji, Alexander P. (ORCID:0000000248638842), Curtis, Sanjana (ORCID:000000023211303X), Storm, Nicholas (ORCID:0000000252593974), Chandra, Vedant (ORCID:0000000205728012), C. Schlaufman, Kevin (ORCID:0000000157616779), G. Stassun, Keivan (ORCID:0000000234819052), Heger, Alexander (ORCID:0000000236841325), Pignatari, Marco (ORCID:0000000290486010), Price-Whelan, Adrian M. (ORCID:0000000308727098), Bergemann, Maria (ORCID:0000000299085571), Stringfellow, Guy S. (ORCID:0000000314793059), Fröhlich, Carla (ORCID:0000000301912477), Reggiani, Henrique (ORCID:0000000165336179), Holmbeck, Erika M. (ORCID:0000000254636800), Tayar, Jamie (ORCID:0000000248187885), Shah, Shivani P. (ORCID:0000000233672394), Griffith, Emily J. (ORCID:0000000193459977), Laporte, Chervin F. P. (ORCID:0000000339227336), Casey, Andrew R. (ORCID:0000000301740564), Hawkins, Keith (ORCID:0000000214232174), Horta, Danny (ORCID:0000000318562151), Cerny, William (ORCID:0000000316977062), Thibodeaux, Pierre (ORCID:0000000238673927), Usman, Sam A. (ORCID:0000000309187185), Amarante, João A. S. (ORCID:0000000276625475), Beaton, Rachael L. (ORCID:0000000216918217), Cargile, Phillip A. (ORCID:0000000216178917), Chiappini, Cristina (ORCID:0000000312697282), Conroy, Charlie (ORCID:0000000215908551), Johnson, Jennifer A. (ORCID:0000000172581834), Kollmeier, Juna A. (ORCID:0000000198521610), Li, Haining (ORCID:0000000203899264), Loebman, Sarah (ORCID:0000000332175967), Meynet, Georges (ORCID:0000000161811323), Bizyaev, Dmitry (ORCID:000000023601133X), Brownstein, Joel R. (ORCID:0000000287251069), Gupta, Pramod (ORCID:0000000239562102), Morrison, Sean (ORCID:0000000267702627), Pan, Kaike (ORCID:0000000228352556), Ramirez, Solange V., Rix, Hans-Walter (ORCID:0000000349969069), Sánchez-Gallego, José (ORCID:0000000324863858). 2024-01-31. Spectacular Nucleosynthesis from Early Massive Stars. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213%2Fad19c4

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