The Origin of carbon, investigated by spectral analysis of solar type stars in the galactic disk
Nov, 1998
14 pages
Published in:
- Astron.Astrophys. 342 (1999) 426
e-Print:
- astro-ph/9811303 [astro-ph]
Report number:
- UAO-98-P133
View in:
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Abstract: (arXiv)
Abundance analysis of carbon has been performed in a sample of 80 late F and early G type dwarf stars in the metallicity range -1.06 < [Fe/H] < 0.26 using the forbidden [C I] line at 8727 A. This line is presumably less sensitive to temperature, atmospheric structure and departures from LTE than alternative carbon criteria. We find that [C/Fe] decreases slowly with increasing [Fe/H] with an overall slope of -0.17 +- 0.03. Our results are consistent with carbon enrichment by superwinds of metal-rich massive stars but inconsistent with a main origin of carbon in low-mass stars. This follows in particular from a comparison between the relation of [C/O] with metallicity for the Galactic stars and the corresponding relation observed for dwarf irregular galaxies. The significance of intermediate-mass stars for the production of carbon in the Galaxy is still somewhat unclear.References(54)
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