Knowledge of the elemental abundances of symbiotic giants is essential to address the role of chemical composition in the evolution of symbiotic binaries, to map their parent population, and to trace their mass transfer history. However, there are fe
w symbiotic giants for which the photospheric abundances are fairly well determined. This is the second in a series of papers on chemical composition of symbiotic giants determined from high-resolution (R ~ 50000) near-IR spectra. Results are presented for the late-type giant star in the AE Ara, BX Mon, KX TrA, and CL Sco systems. Spectrum synthesis employing standard local thermal equilibrium (LTE) analysis and stellar atmosphere models were used to obtain photospheric abundances of CNO and elements around the iron peak (Sc, Ti, Fe, and Ni). Our analysis resulted in sub-solar metallicities in BX Mon, KX TrA, and CL Sco by [Fe/H] ~ -0.3 or -0.5 depending on the value of microturbulence. AE Ara shows metallicity closer to solar by ~0.2 dex. The enrichment in 14N isotope found in all these objects indicates that the giants have experienced the first dredge-up. In the case of BX Mon first dredge-up is also confirmed by the low 12C/13C isotopic ratio of ~8.
Symbiotic stars are the long period, binary systems of strongly interacting stars at the final stages of evolution which can be useful tool to understand the chemical evolution of the Galaxy and the formation of stellar populations. Knowledge of the
chemical composition of the symbiotic giants is essential to advancing our understanding of these issues but unfortunately reliably determinations exist only in a few cases. We perform a program for detailed chemical composition analysis in over 30 symbiotic giants, based on the high resolution, near-IR spectra, obtained with Phoenix/Gemini South spectrometer. The methods of the standard LTE analysis is used to obtain photospheric abundances of CNO and elements around iron peak. Here we present results obtained for four objects: RW Hya, SY Mus, BX Mon, and AE Ara. Our analysis revealed a significantly sub-solar metallicity (Me/H ~ -0.75) for RW Hya, a slightly sub-solar metallicities (Me/H ~ 0.2-0.3) in BX Mon and AE Ara, and a near-solar metallicity in SY Mus. 12C/13C isotopic ratios are low in all cases, ranging from ~6 to ~10, and indicate that the giants have experienced the first dredge-up.
