Bibcode
DOI
Israelian, Garik; Rebolo, Rafael; García López, Ramón J.; Bonifacio, Piercarlo; Molaro, Paolo; Basri, Gibor; Shchukina, Nataliya
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 551, Issue 2, pp. 833-851.
Advertised on:
4
2001
Journal
Citations
93
Refereed citations
84
Description
Oxygen abundances in a sample of ultra-metal-poor subdwarfs have been
derived from measurements of the oxygen triplet at 7771-5 Å and OH
lines in the near-UV performed in high-resolution and high
signal-to-noise ratio spectra obtained with WHT/UES, Keck I/HIRES, and
VLT/UVES. Our Fe abundances were derived in LTE and then corrected for
non-LTE (NLTE) effects. The new oxygen abundances confirm previous
findings for a progressive linear rise in the oxygen-to-iron ratio with
a slope -0.33+/-0.02 from solar metallicity to [Fe/H]~-3. A slightly
higher slope would be obtained if the Fe NLTE corrections were not
considered. Below [Fe/H]=-2.5 our stars show [O/Fe] ratios as high as
~1.17 (G64-12), which can be interpreted as evidence for oxygen
overproduction in the very early epoch of the formation of the halo,
possibly associated with supernova events with very massive progenitor
stars. We show that the arguments against this linear trend given by
Fulbright & Kraft in 1999, based on the LTE Fe analysis of two
metal-poor stars, cannot be sustained when an NLTE analysis is
performed. We discuss how the Fulbright & Kraft LTE ionization
balance of Fe lines underestimates the gravity of the very metal-poor
star BD +23°3130 ([Fe/H]=-2.43) and how this leads to an
underestimation of the oxygen abundance derived from the forbidden line.
Gravities from Hipparcos appear to be in good agreement with those
determined in NLTE, giving higher values than previously assumed, which
reduces the discrepancies between the oxygen abundances determined from
OH, triplet, and forbidden lines. Using one-dimensional models, our
analysis of three oxygen indicators available for BD +23°3130 gives
an average [O/Fe] ratio of 0.78+0.15-0.18. The
high oxygen abundances at very low metallicities do not pose a problem
to theoretical modeling since there is a range of parameters in the
calculations of nucleosynthesis yields from massive stars at low
metallicities that can accommodate our results. Based on data collected
at the Keck I, VLT, and William Herschel telescopes.