HE 1327–2326, an Unevolved Star with [Fe/H] < –5.0. I. A Comprehensive Abundance Analysis

By Wak Aoki, A. Frebel, N. Christlieb, J. Norris, Timothy C. Beers, T. Minezaki, Paul Barklem, Satoshi Honda, M. Takada-Hidai, Martin Asplund and 10 more. 2005

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We present the elemental abundances of HE 1327-2326, the most iron-deficient star known, determined from a comprehensive analysis of spectra obtained with the Subaru Telescope High Dispersion Spectrograph. HE 1327-2326 is either in its main-sequence or subgiant phase of evolution. Its non-LTE-corrected iron abundance is [Fe/H] = -5.45, 0.2 dex lower than that of HE 0107-5240, the previously most iron-poor object known, and more than 1 dex lower than those of all other metal-poor stars. Both HE 1327-2326 and HE 0107-5240 exhibit extremely large overabundances of carbon ([C/Fe] ~ +4). The combination of extremely high carbon abundance with outstandingly low iron abundance in these objects clearly distinguishes them from other metal-poor stars. The large carbon excesses in these two stars are not the result of a selection effect. There also exist important differences between HE 1327-2326 and HE 0107-5240. While the former shows remarkable overabundances of the light elements (N, Na, Mg, and Al), the latter shows only relatively small excesses of N and Na. The neutron-capture element Sr is detected in HE 1327-2326, but not in HE 0107-5240; its Sr abundance is significantly higher than the upper limit for HE 0107-5240. The Li I λ6707 line, which is detected in most metal-poor dwarfs and warm subgiants having the same temperature as HE 1327-2326, is not found in this object. The upper limit of its Li abundance [log ϵ < 1.5] is clearly lower than the Spite plateau value. These data provide new constraints on models of nucleosynthesis processes in the first-generation objects that were responsible for metal enrichment at the earliest times. We discuss possible scenarios to explain the observed abundance patterns.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Instrumentation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/4e86376ba3c698989fc6a91084c9f706524e0fef

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In Astronomy and Astrophysics

  1. Timothy C. Beers
  2. A. Frebel
  3. J. Norris
  4. Martin Asplund
  5. Stan Woosley
  6. R. Hirschi
  7. Roberto Gallino
  8. Alexander Heger

In Instrumentation

  1. Timothy C. Beers
  2. A. Frebel
  3. J. Norris
  4. I. Ramírez
  5. Martin Asplund
  6. Roberto Gallino
  7. Stan Woosley
  8. R. Hirschi

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