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Register a new users-Processing in the Galactic Disk. I. Super-Solar Abundances of Y, Zr, La, Ce in Young Open Clusters
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In a recent study, based on homogeneous barium abundance measurements in open clusters, a trend of increasing [Ba/Fe] ratios for decreasing cluster age was reported. We present here further abundance determinations, relative to four other elements hav- ing important s-process contributions, with the aim of investigating whether the growth found for [Ba/Fe] is or not indicative of a general property, shared also by the other heavy elements formed by slow neutron captures. In particular, we derived abundances for yttrium, zirconium, lanthanum and cerium, using equivalent widths measurements and the MOOG code. Our sample includes 19 open clusters of different ages, for which the spectra were obtained at the ESO VLT telescope, using the UVES spectrometer. The growth previously suggested for Ba is confirmed for all the elements analyzed in our study. This fact implies significant changes in our views of the Galactic chemical evolution for elements beyond iron. Our results necessarily require that very low-mass AGB stars (M < 1.5Modot) produce larger amounts of s-process elements (hence acti- vate the 13 C-neutron source more effectively) than previously expected. Their role in producing neutron-rich elements in the Galactic disk has been so far underestimated and their evolution and neutron-capture nucleosynthesis should now be reconsidered.
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Young open clusters (t<200 Myr) have been observed to exhibit several peculiarities in their chemical compositions, from a slightly sub-solar iron content, super-solar abundances of some atomic species (e.g. ionised chromium), and atypical enhancements of [Ba/Fe], with values up to +0.7 dex. Regarding the behaviour of the other $s$-process elements like yttrium, zirconium, lanthanum, and cerium, there is general disagreement in the literature. In this work we expand upon our previous analysis of a sample of five young open clusters (IC2391, IC2602, IC4665, NGC2516, and NGC2547) and one star-forming region (NGC2264), with the aim of determining abundances of different neutron-capture elements, mainly CuI, SrI, SrII, YII, ZrII, BaII, LaII, and CeII. We analysed high-resolution, high signal-to-noise spectra of 23 solar-type stars observed within the textit{Gaia}-ESO survey. We find that our clusters have solar [Cu/Fe] within the uncertainties, while we confirm the super-solar [Ba/Fe] values (from +0.22 to +0.64 dex). Our analysis also points to mildly enhanced [Y/Fe] values (from 0 and +0.3 dex). For the other $s$-process elements we find that [X/Fe] ratios are solar at all ages. It is not possible to reconcile the anomalous behaviour of Ba and Y at young ages with standard stellar yields and Galactic chemical evolution model predictions. Thus, we explore different possible scenarios related to the behaviour of spectral lines, from the sensitivity to the presence of magnetic fields to the first ionisation potential effect. We also investigate the possibility that they may arise from alterations of the structure of the stellar photosphere due to higher levels of activity in such young stars. We are still unable to explain these enhancements, but we suggest that other elements (i.e. La) might be more reliable tracer of the $s$-process at young ages and encourage further observations.
Photometric detections of dust circumstellar disks around pre-main sequence (PMS) stars, coupled with estimates of stellar ages, provide constraints on the time available for planet formation. Most previous studies on disk longevity, starting with Haisch, Lada & Lada (2001), use star samples from PMS clusters but do not consider datasets with homogeneous photometric sensitivities and/or ages placed on a uniform timescale. Here we conduct the largest study to date of the longevity of inner dust disks using X-ray and 1--8 micrometre infrared photometry from the MYStIX and SFiNCs projects for 69 young clusters in 32 nearby star-forming regions with ages t<=5 Myr. Cluster ages are derived by combining the empirical AgeJX method with PMS evolutionary models, which treat dynamo-generated magnetic fields in different ways. Leveraging X-ray data to identify disk-free objects, we impose similar stellar mass sensitivity limits for disk-bearing and disk-free YSOs while extending the analysis to stellar masses as low as M~0.1 Mo. We find that the disk longevity estimates are strongly affected by the choice of PMS evolutionary model. Assuming a disk fraction of 100% at zero age, the inferred disk half-life changes significantly, from t1/2 ~ 1.3--2 Myr to t1/2 ~ 3.5 Myr when switching from non-magnetic to magnetic PMS models. In addition, we find no statistically significant evidence that disk fraction varies with stellar mass within the first few Myr of life for stars with masses <2 Mo, but our samples may not be complete for more massive stars. The effects of initial disk fraction and star-forming environment are also explored.
When compared to lithium and beryllium, the absence of boron lines in the optical results in a relatively small data set of boron abundances measured in Galactic stars to date. In this paper we discuss boron abundances published in the literature and focus on the evolution of boron in the Galaxy as measured from pristine boron abundances in cool stars as well as early-type stars in the Galactic disk. The trend of B with Fe obtained from cool F-G dwarfs in the disk is found to have a slope of 0.87 +/- 0.08 (in a log-log plot). This slope is similar to the slope of B with Fe found for the metal poor halo stars and there seems to be a smooth connection between the halo and disk in the chemical evolution of boron. The disk trend of boron with oxygen has a steeper slope of ~1.5. This slope suggests an intermediate behavior between primary and secondary production of boron with respect to oxygen. The slope derived for oxygen is consistent with the slope obtained for Fe provided that [O/Fe] increases as [Fe/H] decreases, as observed in the disk.
The chemical evolution of fluorine is investigated in a sample of Milky Way red giantstars that span a significant range in metallicity from [Fe/H] $sim$ -1.3 to 0.0 dex. Fluorine abundances are derived from vibration-rotation lines of HF in high-resolution infraredspectra near $lambda$ 2.335 $mu$m. The red giants are members of the thin and thick disk / halo,with two stars being likely members of the outer disk Monoceros overdensity. At lowermetallicities, with [Fe/H]<-0.4 to -0.5, the abundance of F varies as a primary element with respect to the Fe abundance, with a constant subsolar value of [F/Fe] $sim$ -0.3 to -0.4 dex. At larger metallicities, however, [F/Fe] increases rapidly with [Fe/H] anddisplays a near-secondary behavior with respect to Fe. Comparisons with various models of chemical evolution suggest that in the low-metallicity regime (dominated hereby thick disk stars), a primary evolution of $^{19}$F with Fe, with a subsolar [F/Fe] valuethat roughly matches the observed plateau can be reproduced by a model incorporatingneutrino nucleosynthesis in the aftermath of the core collapse in supernovae of type II (SN II). A primary behavior for [F/Fe] at low metallicity is also observed for a model including rapid rotating low-metallicity massive stars but this overproduces [F/Fe] atlow metallicity. The thick disk red giants in our sample span a large range of galactocentric distance (Rg $sim$ 6--13.7 kpc), yet display a $sim$constant value of [F/Fe], indicating a very flat gradient (with a slope of 0.02 $pm$ 0.03 dex/kpc) of this elemental ratio over asignificant portion of the Galaxy having|Z|>300 pc away from the Galaxy mid-plane.
NGC6357 is an active star forming region with very young massive open clusters (OC). These clusters contain some of the most massive stars in the Galaxy and strongly interact with nearby giant molecular clouds (GMC). We study the young stellar populations of the region and of the OC Pismis24, focusing on their relationship with the nearby GMCs. We seek evidence of triggered star formation propagating from the clusters. We used new deep JHKs photometry, along with unpublished deep IRAC/Spitzer MIR photometry, complemented with optical HST/WFPC2 high spatial resolution photometry and X-ray Chandra observations, to constrain age, initial mass function, and star formation modes in progress. We carefully examine and discuss all sources of bias (saturation, confusion, different sensitivities, extinction). NGC6357 hosts three large young stellar clusters, of which Pismis24 is the most prominent. We found that Pismis24 is a very young (~1-3 Myr) OC with a Salpeter-like IMF and a few thousand members. A comparison between optical and IR photometry indicates that the fraction of members with a NIR excess (i. e., with a circumstellar disk) is in the range 0.3-0.6, consistent with its photometrically derived age. We also find that Pismis24 is likely subdivided into a few different sub-clusters, one of which contains almost all the massive members. There are indications of current star formation triggered by these massive stars, but clear age trends could not be derived (although the fraction of stars with a NIR excess does increase towards the HII region associated with the cluster). The gas out of which Pismis24 formed must have been distributed in dense clumps within a cloud of less dense gas ~1 pc in radius. Our findings provide some new insight into how young stellar populations and massive stars emerge, and evolve in the first few Myr after birth, from a giant molecular cloud complex.
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