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Results for “stars: Population II”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1996

Model Stellar Atmospheres and Real Stellar Atmospheres and Status of the ATLAS12 Opacity Sampling Program and of New Programs for Rosseland and for Distribution Function Opacity

I discuss errors in theory and in interpreting observations that are produced by the failure to consider resolution in space, time, and energy. I discuss convection in stellar model atmospheres and in stars. Large errors in abundances are possible such as the factor of ten error in the Li abundance for extreme Population II stars. Finally I discuss the variation of microturbulent velocity with depth, effective temperature, gravity, and abundance. These variations must be dealt with in computing models and grids and in any type of photometric calibration. I have also developed a new opacity-sampling version of my model atmosphere program called ATLAS12. It recognizes more than 1000 atomic and molecular species, each in up to 10 isotopic forms. It can treat all ions of the elements up through Zn and the first 5 ions of heavier elements up through Es. The elemental and isotopic abundances are treated as variables with depth. The fluxes predicted by ATLAS12 are not accurate in intermediate or narrow bandpass intervals because the sample size is too small. A special stripped version of the spectrum synthesis program SYNTHE is used to generate the surface flux for the converged model using the line data on CD-ROMs 1 and 15. ATLAS12 can be used to produce improved models for Am and Ap stars. It should be very useful for investigating diffusion effects in atmospheres. It can be used to model exciting stars for H II regions with abundances consistent with those of the H II region. These programs and line files will be distributed on CD-ROMs.

Kurucz, Robert L.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Reconstructing Masses of Merging Neutron Stars from Stellar r -process Abundance Signatures

We report that neutron star mergers (NSMs) are promising astrophysical sites for the rapid neutron-capture ("r") process, but can their integrated yields explain the majority of heavy-element material in the Galaxy? One method to address this question implements a forward approach that propagates NSM rates and yields along with stellar formation rates and compares those results with observed chemical abundances of r-process-rich, metal-poor stars. In this work, we take the inverse approach by utilizing r-process-element abundance ratios of metal-poor stars as input to reconstruct the properties -especially the masses - of their neutron star (NS) binary progenitors. This novel analysis provides an independent avenue for studying the population of the original NS binary systems that merged and produced the r-process material now incorporated in Galactic metal-poor halo stars. We use ratios of elements typically associated with the limited-r-process and the actinide region to those in the lanthanide region (i.e., Zr/Dy and Th/Dy) to probe the NS masses of the progenitor merger. We find that NSMs can account for all r-process material in metal-poor stars that display r-process signatures, while simultaneously reproducing the present-day distribution of double-NS systems. Notably, with our model assumptions and the studied stellar sample, we postulate that the most r-process enhanced stars (the r–II stars) on their own would require progenitor NSMs of asymmetric systems that are distinctly different from present ones in the Galaxy. We also explore variations to the model and find that the predicted degree of asymmetry is most sensitive to the electron fraction of the remnant disk wind.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1985

Comparisons of the Standard Galaxy Model with observations in two fields

The Bahcall-Soneira (1984) model for the distribution of stars in the Galaxy is compared with the observations reported by Gilmore, Reid, and Hewett (1984) in two directions in the sky, the pole and the Morton-Tritton (1982) region. It is shown that the Galaxy model is in good agreement with the observations everywhere it has been tested with modern data, including the magnitude range, V = 17-18, and provided that the globular cluster feature is included in the luminosity function of the field Population II stars.

Bahcall, J. N.↗
NASA NTRS1991

A line identification study of the IUE SWP high dispersion spectrum of the UV-bright star Barnard 29 of Messier 13

A line identification study was performed of the coaddition of three SWP high dispersion IUE exposures of the UV-bright star Barnard 29 of Messier 13. One of these images took two IUE shifts. The previous study by de Boer and Savage (1983) was extended and stellar lines of C I, C II, C III, C IV, N I, N III, O I, O III, O IV,Al III, Si II, Si III, Si IV, P III, S II, and S III and interstellar lines of C I, C II, C IV, N I, N III, N IV, N V, O I, Al II, Al III, Si II, Si IV, S II, and Fe II were found. These lines are the strongest expected lines in a hot Population II star. Apparent intensity minima corresponding to interstellar features are noted, especially those matching a high velocity cloud found by de Boer and Savage.

Adelman, S. J.↗
DOE OSTI2023

High-velocity CP2 stars in the Galactic halo

The second subclass of chemically peculiar stars, the CP2 stars, are early-type stars exhibiting anomalous abundances with variable line strengths possibly also accompanied by photometric variability that typically belong to the Galactic disk. However, a small fraction of these objects were recently found to be located far from the Galactic plane and are thought to belong to the Galactic halo, which is unexpected for this class of objects. Our study investigates the halo membership of the proposed halo CP2 star candidates based on their velocities and Galactic orbits, to determine their points of origin. In addition, we searched for further halo CP2 star candidates using an as-yet-unpublished sample of CP stars. Our analysis relied on the astrometry from the early third Gaia data release and radial velocities based on the spectroscopy from LAMOST and SDSS, which was also employed in spectral classification. The light variability of the confirmed CP2 stars in our sample was analyzed using data from the ZTF and ATLAS surveys. After filtering our initial sample using kinematic and spectroscopic criteria, we identified six CP2 stars with kinematical properties consistent with a halo membership. The orbits of these stars are in agreement with an origin in the Galactic disk where they were probably ejected through dynamical interactions or in the binary supernova scenario, making them the first runaway CP2 stars known.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

The Pristine survey – XX. GTC follow-up observations of extremely metal-poor stars identified from Pristine and LAMOST

Ultra-metal-poor stars (⁠[Fe/H] < –4.0⁠) are very rare, and finding them is a challenging task. Both narrow-band photometry and low-resolution spectroscopy have been useful tools for identifying candidates, and in this work, we combine both approaches. We cross-matched metallicity-sensitive photometry from the Pristine survey with the low-resolution spectroscopic Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fibre Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) data base, and re-analyzed all LAMOST spectra with ⁠[Fe/H] Pristine < –2.5⁠. We find that ~1/3rd of this sample (selected without ⁠[Fe/H] Pristine quality cuts) also have spectroscopic ⁠[Fe/H] < –2.5⁠. From this sample, containing many low signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) spectra, we selected 11 stars potentially having ⁠[Fe/H] < –4.0 or [Fe/H] < –3.0 with very high carbon abundances, and we performed higher S/N medium-resolution spectroscopic follow-up with the Optical System for Imaging and low Resolution Integrated Spectroscopy (OSIRIS) on the 10.4-m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC). We confirm their extremely low metallicities, with a mean of [Fe/H] < –3.4⁠, and the most metal-poor star having [Fe/H] < –3.8⁠. Three of these are clearly carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars with +1.65 < [C/Fe] < +2.45⁠. The two most carbon-rich stars are either among the most metal-poor CEMP-s stars or the most carbon-rich CEMP-no stars known, the third is likely a CEMP-no star. We derived orbital properties for the OSIRIS sample and find that only one of our targets can be confidently associated with known substructures/accretion events, and that three out of four inner halo stars have prograde orbits. Large spectroscopic surveys may contain many hidden extremely and ultra-metal-poor stars, and adding additional information from e.g. photometry as in this work can uncover them more efficiently and confidently.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Carbon-enhanced metal-poor star candidates from BP/RP spectra in Gaia DR3

ABSTRACT Carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars comprise almost a third of stars with [Fe/H] < −2, although their origins are still poorly understood. It is highly likely that one sub-class (CEMP-s stars) is tied to mass-transfer events in binary stars, while another sub-class (CEMP-no stars) are enriched by the nucleosynthetic yields of the first generations of stars. Previous studies of CEMP stars have primarily concentrated on the Galactic halo, but more recently they have also been detected in the thick disc and bulge components of the Milky Way. Gaia DR3 has provided an unprecedented sample of over 200 million low-resolution (R ≈ 50) spectra from the BP and RP photometers. Training on the CEMP catalogue from the SDSS/SEGUE database, we use XGBoost to identify the largest all-sky sample of CEMP candidate stars to date. In total, we find 58 872 CEMP star candidates, with an estimated contamination rate of 12 per cent. When comparing to literature high-resolution catalogues, we positively identify 60–68 per cent of the CEMP stars in the data, validating our results and indicating a high completeness rate. Our final catalogue of CEMP candidates spans from the inner to outer Milky Way, with distances as close as r ∼ 0.8 kpc from the Galactic centre, and as far as r > 30 kpc. Future higher resolution spectroscopic follow-up of these candidates will provide validations of their classification and enable investigations of the frequency of CEMP-s and CEMP-no stars throughout the Galaxy, to further constrain the nature of their progenitors.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1972

Enrichment of intergalactic matter.

The primordial gas out of which the Galaxy condensed may have been significantly enriched in heavy elements. A specific mechanism of enrichment is described, in which quasi-stellar sources eject enriched matter into the intergalactic medium. This matter is recycled through successive generations of these sources, and is progressively enriched. The enriched intergalactic matter is accreted by the protogalaxy and we find, for rates of mass ejection by quasi-stellar sources equal to about one solar mass per year in heavy elements, that this mechanism can account for the heavy-element abundances in the oldest Population II stars. Expressions are given for the degree of enrichment of the intergalactic gas as a function of redshift, and we show that our hypothesis implies that the present density of intergalactic gas must be at least a factor 3 larger than the mean density in galaxies at the present epoch.

Silk, J.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Primordial lithium - New reaction rates, new abundances, new constraints

Newly measured nuclear reaction rates for H-3(alpha, gamma)Li-7 (higher than previous values) and Li-7(p, alpha)He-4 (lower than previous values) are shown to increase the Li-7 yield from big band nucleosynthesis for lower baryon-to-photon ratio (less than about 4 x 10 to the 10th). Recent revisions in the He-3(alpha, gamma)Be-7 and the D(p, gamma)He-3 rates enhance the high (greater than 4 x 10 to the 10th) Li-7(Be) production. New, independent determinations of Li abundances in extreme population II stars are in excellent agreement with the work of Spites and give continued confidence in the use of Li-7 in big bang baryon density determinations.

Kawano, Lawrence↗
NASA NTRS1992

Light-element abundances in Population II dwarfs

This paper reviews the abundances of the light elements lithium, beryllium, and boron in main-sequence and subgiant, Population II stars. Li is important to cosmology because it is synthesized in the Big Bang, but is also used to study stellar structure. Beryllium is useful for studying galactic chemical evolution because its formation in the interstellar medium involves different physics to stellar nucleosynthesis, and it thus provides independent data on the evolution of the halo. Some (though not all) inhomogeneous Big Bang nucleosynthesis codes predict a significant primordial component to this element, so its observed abundance may constrain such models. Boron, observations of which became feasible with the operation of the Hubble Space Telescope, provides complementary data to Be, helping check the element ratios predicted by calculations of spallation reactions in the interstellar medium, and will indicate whether the observed Be abundance has an excess over the expected spallation component, indicating a possible primordial component.

Ryan, Sean G.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Astrophysical Li-7 as a product of big bang nucleosynthesis and galactic cosmic-ray spallation

The astrophysical Li-7 abundance is considered to be largely primordial, while the Be and B abundances are thought to be due to galactic cosmic ray (GCR) spallation reactions on top of a much smaller big bang component. But GCR spallation should also produce Li-7. As a consistency check on the combination of big bang nucleosynthesis and GCR spallation, the Be and B data from a sample of hot population II stars is used to subtract from the measured Li-7 abundance an estimate of the amount generated by GCR spallation for each star in the sample, and then to add to this baseline an estimate of the metallicity-dependent augmentation of Li-7 due to spallation. The singly reduced primordial Li-7 abundance is still consistent with big bang nucleosynthesis, and a single GCR spallation model can fit the Be, B, and corrected Li-7 abundances for all the stars in the sample.

Olive, Keith A.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Production of Lithium, Beryllium, and Boron from Baryon inhomogeneous primordial nucleosynthesis

We investigate the possibility that inhomogeneous nucleosynthesis may eventually be used to explain the abundances of Li-6, Be-9, and B in Population II stars. The present work differs from previous studies in that we have used a more extensive reaction network. It is demonstrated that in the simplest scenario the abundances of the light elements with A less than or = 7 constrain the separation of inhomogeneities to sufficently small scales that the model is indistinguishable from homogeneous nucleosynthesis and that the abundnace of Li-6, Be-9, and B are then below observations by several orders of magnitude. This conclusion does not depend on the Li-7 constraint. We also examine alternative scenarios which involve a post-nucleosynthesis reprocessing of the light elements to reproduce the observed abundances of Li and B, while allowing for a somewhat higher baryon density (still well below the cosmological critical density). Future B/H measurements may be able to exclude even this exotic scenario and further restrict primirdial nucleosynthesis to approach the homogeneous model conclusions.

Thomas, David↗
NASA NTRS2004

FUSE Cycle 3 Program CO22: Chromospheric Activity in Population II Giants

One of the mysteries of Population II giants is that they still show chromospheric emission despite their great age. The global dynamo which was active during their main-sequence lifetimes is expected to become extremely weak through magnetic rotational braking. The nature of the observed emission is not understood; although acoustic shock waves might provide the heating, acoustic waves are not predicted to drive the observed mass loss - which in turn requires the dissipation of magneto-hydrodynamic waves. This program was designed to search for the faint stellar H Ly(beta) emission wings and the fluorescent Fe II and H2 emission from one of the brightest, metal poor, Population II stars. These FUSE diagnostics, when combined with existing UV and optical spectra, help determine the major radiative cooling channels for the chromosphere. This observation was to complement that previously planned for the mildly metal deficient giant alpha Boo (K2 III). However, a Boo has yet to be observed with FUSE.

Harper, Graham M.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Chromospheric Activity in Population II Giants

One of the mysteries of Population II giants is that they still show chromospheric emission despite their great age. The global dynamo which was active during their main-sequence lifetimes is expected to become extremely weak through magnetic rotational braking. The nature of the observed emission is not understood; although acoustic shock waves might provide the heating, acoustic waves are not predicted to drive the observed mass loss - which in turn requires the dissipation of magneto-hydrodynamic waves. This program was designed to search for the faint stellar H Ly beta emission wings and the fluorescent Fe II and H2 emission from one of the brightest, metal poor, Population II stars. These FUSE diagnostics, when combined with existing UV and optical spectra, help determine the major radiative cooling channels for the chromosphere. This observation was to complement that previously planned for the mildly metal deficient giant alpha Boo (K2 III). However, alpha Boo has yet to be observed with FUSE.

Harper, Graham M.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Spectral synthesis in the ultraviolet. II - Stellar populations and star formation in blue compact galaxies

An initial attempt to apply optimizing spectral synthesis techniques to the far-UV spectra of blue compact galaxies (BCGs) is presented. The far-UV absorption-line spectra of the galaxies are clearly composite, with the signatures of the main-sequence types between O3 and mid-A. Most of the low-ionization absorption lines have a stellar origin. The Si IV and C IV features in several objects have P Cygni profiles. In Haro I the strength of Si IV indicates a significant blue supergiant population. The metal-poor blue compact dwarf Mrk 209 displays weak absorption lines, evidence that the stellar component has the same low metallicity as observed in the ionized gas. Good fits to the data are obtained the technique of optimizing population synthesis. The solutions yield stellar luminosity functions which display large discontinuities, indicative of discrete star formation episodes or bursts. The amount of UV extinction is low.

Fanelli, Michael N.↗
NASA NTRS1981

IUE observations of blue halo high luminosity stars

Two high luminosity population II blue stars of high galactic latitude, BD+33 deg 2642 and HD 137569 were observed at high resolution. The stellar spectra show the effect of mass loss in BD+33 deg 2642 and abnormally weak metallic lines in HD 137569. The interstellar lines in the direction of BD+33 deg 2642, which lies at a height z greater than or equal to 6.2 kpc from the galactic plane, are split into two components. No high ionization stages are found at the low velocity component; nor can they be detected in the higher velocity clouds because of mixing with the corresponding stellar/circumstellar lines.

Hack, M.↗