We investigate the main physical properties of low-metallicity Asymptotic Giant Branch stars, with the aim of quantifying the uncertainties that presently affect the predicted chemical yields of these stars, associated to mass loss and description of molecular opacities. We find that above a threshold mass, M ~ 3.5Msun for Z=0.001, the results are little dependent on the opacity treatment, as long as hot-bottom burning prevents the surface C/O ratio from exceeding unity; the yields of these massive AGB stars are expected to be mostly determined by the efficiency of convection, with a relatively mild dependence on the mass-loss description. A much higher degree of uncertainty is associated to the yields of less massive models, which critically depend on the adopted molecular opacities. An interval of masses exists, say 2.0-3.0Msun, (the exact range depends on mass loss), in which HBB may be even extinguished following the cooling produced by the opacity of C-bearing molecules. The yields of these stars are the most uncertain, the variation range being the largest (up to ~ 2dex) for the nitrogen and sodium yields. For very low-mass models, not experiencing hot-bottom burning (M< 1.5Msun),the description of mass loss and the treatment of the convective boundaries are crucial for the occurrence of the third dredge-up, with sizable consequences on the CNO yields.
We report the statistical properties of stars and brown dwarfs obtained from four radiation hydrodynamical simulations of star cluster formation that resolve masses down to the opacity limit for fragmentation. The calculations are identical except for their dust and gas opacities. Assuming dust opacity is proportional to metallicity, the calculations span a range of metallicities from 1/100 to 3 times solar, although we emphasise that changing the metallicity has other thermodynamic effects that the calculations do not capture (e.g. on the thermal coupling between gas and dust). All four calcu…
Electron conduction opacities are one of the main physics inputs for the calculation of low- and intermediate-mass stellar models, and a critical question is how to bridge calculations for moderate and strong degeneracy, which are necessarily performed adopting different methods. The density-temperature regime at the boundary between moderate and strong degeneracy is in fact crucial for modelling the helium cores of red giant branch stars and the hydrogen/helium envelopes of white dwarfs. Prompted by recently published new, improved calculations of electron thermal conductivities and opacities…
The studies focused on the Thermally-Pulsing Asymptotic Giant Branch phase experienced by low- and intermediate-mass stars are extremely important in many astrophysical contexts. In particular, a detailed computation of their chemical yields is essential for several issues, ranging from the chemical evolution of galaxies, to the mechanisms behind the formation of globular clusters. Among all the uncertainties affecting the theoretical modelling of this phase, and described in the literature, it remains to be fully clarified which results are severely affected by the use of inadequate low-tempe…
Calculations from stellar evolutionary models of low- and intermediate-mass asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars provide predictions of elemental abundances and yields for comparison to observations. However, there are many uncertainties that reduce the accuracy of these predictions. One such uncertainty involves the treatment of low-temperature molecular opacities that account for the surface abundance variations of C, N, and O. A number of prior calculations of intermediate-mass AGB stellar models that incorporate both efficient third dredge-up and hot bottom burning include a molecular opaci…
We present a new grid of stellar model calculations for stars on the Asymptotic Giant Branch between 1.0 and 6.0 M_sun. Our grid consists of 5 chemical mixtures between Z=0.0005 and Z=0.04, with both solar-like and $α$-element enhanced metal ratios. We treat consistently the carbon-enhancement of the stellar envelopes by using opacity tables with varying C/O-ratio and by employing theoretical mass loss rates for carbon stars. The low temperature opacities have been calculated specifically for this project. For oxygen stars we use an empirical mass loss formalism. The third dredge-up is natural…
We present new calculations of Rosseland and Planck gaseous mean opacities relevant to the atmospheres of giant planets and ultracool dwarfs. Such calculations are used in modeling the atmospheres, interiors, formation, and evolution of these objects. Our calculations are an expansion of those presented in Freedman et al. (2008) to include lower pressures, finer temperature resolution, and also the higher metallicities most relevant for giant planet atmospheres. Calculations span 1 microbar to 300 bar, and 75 K to 4000 K, in a nearly square grid. Opacities at metallicities from solar to 50 tim…
Dust formation and resulting mass loss around Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars with initial metallicity in the range of $0 \leq Z_{\rm ini} \leq 10^{-4}$ and initial mass $2\leq M_{\rm ini}/M_{\odot} \leq 5$ are explored by the hydrodynamical calculations of dust-driven wind (DDW) along the AGB evolutionary tracks. We employ the MESA code to simulate the evolution of stars, assuming an empirical mass-loss rate in the post-main sequence phase, and considering the three types of low-temperature opacities (scaled-solar, CO-enhanced, and CNO-enhanced opacities) to elucidate the effect on the st…
Among many physical processes involved in star formation, radiation transfer is one of the key processes since it dominantly controls the thermodynamics. Because metallicities control opacities, they are one of the important environmental parameters which affect star formation processes. In this work, I investigate protostellar collapse in solar-metallicity and low-metallicity ($Z = 0.1 Z_\odot$) environments using 3D radiation hydrodynamic and magnetohydrodynamic simulations. Because radiation cooling is more effective in the low-metallicity environments, first cores are colder and have lower…
The impact of metallicity on the mass-loss rate from red giant branch (RGB) stars is studied through its effect on the parameters of horizontal branch (HB) stars. The scaling factors from Reimers (1975) and Schroder & Cuntz (2005) are determined for 56 well-studied Galactic globular clusters (GCs). The median values among clusters are, respectively, η_R = 0.477 +/- 0.070 (+0.050/-0.062) and η_SC = 0.172 +/- 0.024 (+0.018/-0.023) (standard deviation and systematic uncertainties, respectively). Mass-loss mechanisms on the RGB have very little metallicity dependence: over a factor of 200 in iron …
On the basis of a recently derived color-metallicity relation and stellar parameters from the Sloan Digtal Sky Survey Data Release 7 spectroscopic survey, a large sample of red horizontal branch candidates have been selected to serve as standard candles. The metallicity and kinematic distributions of these stars indicate that they mainly originate from the thick-disk and the halo populations. The typical thick disk is characterized by the first group peaking at [Fe/H] ~ -0.6, Vrot ~ 170 km/s with a vertical scale height around |Z| ~ 1.2 kpc, while stars with [Fe/H] < -0.9 are dominated by the …
Based on SDSS DR8, we have selected a sample of 1728 red horizontal branch stars with |Z|<3 kpc by using a color-metallicity relation and stellar parameters. The sample stars clearly trace a typical thick disk population with peaks at |Z|=1.26 kpc and [Fe/H]=-0.54. The vertical metallicity gradient of the thick disk is estimated in two ways. One is a fit to the Gaussian peaks of the metallicity histograms of the thick disk by subtracting minor contributions from the thin disk and the inner halo based on the Besancon Galaxy model. The resulting gradient is -0.12+-0.01 dex/kpc for 0.5 <|Z| <3 kp…
Long-lived stars in GCs exhibit chemical peculiarities with respect to their halo counterparts. In particular, Na-enriched stars are identified as belonging to a 2d stellar population born from cluster material contaminated by the H-burning ashes of a 1st stellar population. Their presence and numbers in different locations of the CMDs provide important constraints on the self-enrichment scenarios. In particular, the ratio of Na-poor to Na-rich stars on the AGB has recently been found to vary strongly from cluster to cluster, while it is relatively constant on the RGB. We investigate the impac…
Supernovae (SNe) are among the most intensely studied objects of modern astrophysics, but due to their complex physical nature, theoretical models are essential to understand better these exploding stars, as well as the properties of the variation of the emitted radiation. One possibility for modeling SNe light curves is the construction of a simplified semi-analytic model, which can be used for getting order-of magnitude estimates of the SN properties. One of the strongest simplification in most of these light curve models is the assumption of the constant Thomson-scattering opacity that can …
We discuss the dust chemistry and growth in the circumstellar envelopes (CSEs) of Thermally Pulsing Asymptotic Giant Branch (TP-AGB) star models computed with the COLIBRI code, at varying initial mass and metallicity (Z=0.001, 0.008, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06). A relevant result of our analysis deals with the silicate production in M-stars. We show that, in order to reproduce the observed trend between terminal velocities and mass-loss rates in Galactic M-giants, one has to significantly reduce the efficiency of chemisputtering by H2 molecules, usually considered as the most effective dust destruction …
We compare literature data for the isotopic ratios of Zr, Sr, and Ba from analysis of single meteoritic stardust silicon carbide (SiC) grains to new predictions for the slow neutron-capture process (the s process) in metal-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. The models have initial metallicities Z = 0.014 (solar) and Z = 0.03 (twice-solar) and initial masses 2 - 4.5 Msun, selected such as the condition C/O>1 for the formation of SiC is achieved. Because of the higher Fe abundance, the twice-solar metallicity models result in a lower number of total free neutrons released by the 13C(α,n)1…
We investigate the behaviour of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars between metallicities Z = 10-4 and Z = 10-8 . We determine which stars undergo an episode of flash-driven mixing, where protons are ingested into the intershell convection zone, as they enter the thermally pulsing AGB phase and which undergo third dredge-up. We find that flash-driven mixing does not occur above a metallicity of Z = 10-5 for any mass of star and that stars above 2 M do not experience this phenomenon at any metallicity. We find carbon ingestion (CI), the mixing of carbon into the tail of hydrogen burning region,…
Context. Abundance anomalies have been observed in field sdB stars and in nearly all Horizontal Branch (HB) stars of globular clusters with Teff > 11 000K whatever be the cluster metallicity. Aims. The aim is to determine the abundance variations to be expected in sdB stars and in HB stars of metallicities Z \geq 0.0001 and what observed abundances teach us about hydrodynamical processes competing with atomic diffusion. Methods. Complete stellar evolution models, including the effects of atomic diffusion and radiative acceleration, have been computed from the zero age main-sequence for metalli…
During the course of stellar evolution, the location and width of the habitable zone changes as the luminosity and radius of the star evolves. The duration of habitability for a planet located at a given distance from a star is greatly affected by the characteristics of the host star. A quantification of these effects can be used observationally in the search for life around nearby stars. The longer the duration of habitability, the more likely it is that life has evolved. The preparation of observational techniques aimed at detecting life would benefit from the scientific requirements deduced…
We describe and summarize the findings from our CCD time-series photometry of globular clusters (GCs) program and the use of difference image analysis (DIA) in the extraction of very precise light curves even in the crowded central regions down to $V\sim 19$ mag. We have discovered approximately 250 variable stars in a sample of 23 selected GCs and have, therefore, updated the census of variables in each system and in some cases we have actually completed it down to a certain magnitude. The absolute magnitude and [Fe/H] for each individual RR Lyrae is obtained via the Fourier decomposition of …
In this paper we present the evolution of a low mass model (initial mass M=1.5 Msun) with a very low metal content (Z=5x10^{-5}, equivalent to [Fe/H]=-2.44). We find that, at the beginning of the AGB phase, protons are ingested from the envelope in the underlying convective shell generated by the first fully developed thermal pulse. This peculiar phase is followed by a deep third dredge up episode, which carries to the surface the freshly synthesized 13C, 14N and 7Li. A standard TP-AGB evolution, then, follows. During the proton ingestion phase, a very high neutron density is attained and the …
Surface brightness-color relations for red giant branch stars: Observational constraints on metallicity effects using the ARD method
Yunnan Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院云南天文台）；Key Laboratory for Structure and Evolution of Celestial Objects, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院天体结构与演化重点实验室）；National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院国家天文台）；University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学）
We present the COLIBRI code for computing the evolution of stars along the TP-AGB phase. Compared to purely synthetic TP-AGB codes, COLIBRI relaxes a significant part of their analytic formalism in favour of a detailed physics applied to a complete envelope model, in which the stellar structure equations are integrated from the atmosphere down to the bottom of the hydrogen-burning shell. This allows to predict self-consistently: (i) the effective temperature, and more generally the convective envelope and atmosphere structures, correctly coupled to the changes in the surface chemical abundance…
We present new theoretical stellar yields and surface abundances for asymptotic giant branch (AGB) models with a metallicity appropriate for stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC, $Z= 0.0028$, [Fe/H] $\approx -0.7$). New evolutionary sequences and post-processing nucleosynthesis results are presented for initial masses between 1$M_{\odot}$ and 7$M_{\odot}$, where the 7$M_{\odot}$ is a super-AGB star with an O-Ne core. Models above 1.15$M_{\odot}$ become carbon rich during the AGB, and hot bottom burning begins in models $M \ge 3.75 M_{\odot}$. We present stellar surface abundances as a func…
In the updated APOGEE-Kepler catalog, we have asteroseismic and spectroscopic data for over 3000 first ascent red giants. Given the size and accuracy of this sample, these data offer an unprecedented test of the accuracy of stellar models on the post-main-sequence. When we compare these data to theoretical predictions, we find a metallicity dependent temperature offset with a slope of around 100 K per dex in metallicity. We find that this effect is present in all model grids tested and that theoretical uncertainties in the models, correlated spectroscopic errors, and shifts in the asteroseismi…
We examine the effects of thermohaline mixing on the composition of the envelopes of low-metallicity asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. We have evolved models of 1, 1.5 and 2 solar masses from the pre-main sequence to the end of the thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch with thermohaline mixing applied throughout the simulations. In agreement with other authors, we find that thermohaline mixing substantially reduces the abundance of helium-3 on the upper part of the red giant branch in our lowest mass model. However, the small amount of helium-3 that remains is enough to drive thermohali…
The O-rich Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars experience strong mass loss with efficient dust condensation and they are major sources of dust in the interstellar medium. Alumina dust (Al$_2$O$_3$) is an important dust component in O-rich circumstellar shells and it is expected to be fairly abundant in the winds of the more massive and O-rich AGB stars. By coupling AGB stellar nucleosynthesis and dust formation, we present a self-consistent exploration on the Al$_2$O$_3$ production in the winds of AGB stars with progenitor masses between $\sim$3 and 7 M$_{\odot}$ and metallicities in the range…
We present the dust ejecta of the new stellar models for the Thermally Pulsing Asymptotic Giant Branch (TP-AGB) phase computed with the COLIBRI code. We use a formalism of dust growth coupled with a stationary wind for both M and C-stars. In the original version of this formalism, the most efficient destruction process of silicate dust in M-giants is chemisputtering by H2 molecules. For these stars we find that dust grains can only form at relatively large radial distances (r~5 R*), where they cannot be efficiently accelerated, in agreement with other investigations. In the light of recent lab…
Tidally enhanced stellar wind may affect horizontal branch (HB) morphology in globular clusters (GCs) by enhancing the mass loss of primary star during binary evolution. Lei et al. (2013a, 2013b) studied the effect of this kind of wind on HB morphology in details, and their results indicated that binary is a possible secondparameter (2P) candidate in GCs. Binary fraction is an very important fact in the tidally-enhanced-stellar-wind model. In this paper, we studied the effect of binary fraction on HB morphology by removing the effects of metallicity and age. Five different binary fractions (i.…
We have tested the reliability of the red giant branch (RGB) as a metallicity indicator accounting for observational errors as well as the complexity of star formation histories (SFHs) and chemical evolution histories observed in various stellar systems. We generate model color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) produced with a variety of evolutionary histories and compare the resultant metallicity estimates from the colors and magnitudes of RGB stars to the true input metallicities. We include realistic models for photometric errors and completeness in our synthetic CMDs. As expected, for simple simpl…
We present stellar evolutionary tracks and nucleosynthetic predictions for a grid of stellar models of low- and intermediate-mass asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars at $Z=0.001$ ([Fe/H]$=-1.2$). The models cover an initial mass range from 1 M$_{\odot}$ to 7 M$_{\odot}$. Final surface abundances and stellar yields are calculated for all elements from hydrogen to bismuth as well as isotopes up to the iron group. We present the first study of neutron-capture nucleosynthesis in intermediate-mass AGB models, including a super-AGB model, of [Fe/H] = $-1.2$. We examine in detail a low-mass AGB model…
We use the 3D stellar structure code DJEHUTY to model the ingestion of protons into the intershell convection zone of a 1 solar mass asymptotic giant branch star of metallicity Z=10^-4. We have run two simulations: a low resolution one of around 300,000 zones, and a high resolution one consisting of 2,000,000 zones. Both simulations have been evolved for about 4 hours of stellar time. We observe the existence of fast, downward flowing plumes that are able to transport hydrogen into close proximity to the helium burning shell before burning takes place. The intershell in the 3D model is richer …
We present models for the slow neutron-capture process (s process) in asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars of metallicity [Fe/H]=-2.3 and masses 0.9 Msun to 6 Msun. We encountered different regimes of neutron-capture nucleosynthesis increasing in importance as the stellar mass decreases: the 22Ne(alpha,n)25Mg reaction activated during the thermal pulses, the 13C(alpha,n)16O reaction activated in radiative conditions during the interpulse periods, and the 13C(alpha,n)16O reaction activated during the thermal pulses, also as a result of mild proton ingestion episodes. The models where the 13C bur…
We introduce a new tool - AESOPUS: Accurate Equation of State and OPacity Utility Software - for computing the equation of state and the Rosseland mean (RM) opacities of matter in the ideal gas phase. Results are given as a function of one pair of state variables, (i.e. temperature T in the range 3.2 <= log(T) <= 4.5, and parameter R= rho/(T/10^6 K)^3 in the range -8 <= log(R) <= 1), and arbitrary chemical mixture. The chemistry is presently solved for about 800 species, consisting of almost 300 atomic and 500 molecular species. The gas opacities account for many continuum and discrete sources…
The horizontal branch (HB) morphology of globular clusters (GCs) is mainly described by metallicity. The fact that some clusters with almost the same metallicity exhibit different HB demonstrates that other parameters are at work. We present results from the analysis of the CMD of 72 GCs obtained with the Advanced Camera for Survey (ACS) of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). We find a significant correlation between the HB color extension and the mass of the hosting cluster, while the color distance between the HB and the red-giant branch (RGB) depends on metallicity and age. We suggest that ag…
Aims. We use the spectra of more than 30,000 red giant branch (RGB) stars in 25 globular clusters (GC), obtained within the MUSE survey of Galactic globular clusters, to calibrate the Ca II triplet (CaT) metallicity relation and derive metallicities for all individual stars. We investigate the overall metallicity distributions as well as those of the different populations within each cluster. Methods. The Ca II triplet in the near-infrared at 8498, 8542, and 8662 AA is visible in stars with spectral types between F and M and can be used to determine their metallicities. In this work, we calibr…
[abridged] Many topical astrophysical research areas, such as the properties of planet host stars, the nature of the progenitors of different types of supernovae and gamma ray bursts, and the evolution of galaxies, require complete and homogeneous sets of stellar models at different metallicities in order to be studied during the whole of cosmic history. We present here a first set of models for solar metallicity, where the effects of rotation are accounted for in a homogeneous way. We computed a grid of 48 different stellar evolutionary tracks, both rotating and non-rotating, at Z=0.014, span…
The horizontal branch (HB) morphology of globular clusters (GCs) is mainly determined by metallicity. However, the fact that GCs with almost the same metallicity exhibit different HB morphologies demonstrates that at least one more parameter is needed to explain the HB morphology. It has been suggested that one of these should be a global parameter that varies from GC to GC, and the other a non-global parameter that varies within the GC. In this study we provide empirical evidence corroborating this idea. We used the photometric catalogs obtained with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) of t…
We describe a method by which the abundance of metals and the reddening of globular clusters are simultaneously derived. The method is based on the analysis of the shape of the red giant branch and V magnitude of the horizontal branch on the V vs. (B-R) color-magnitude diagram for a cluster. The application of our technique to the photometry of the globular cluster NGC7006 yields the metallicity $[Fe/H] = - 1.78 \pm0.11$ and the reddening $E_{B-R} = 0.^{m}25 \pm0.^{m}02$.
A low mass star usually experiences stratification and abundance anomalies during its evolution. A 0.95 solar mass star with a metallicity Z = 0.004 is followed from the main-sequence to the Horizontal Branch (HB). On the main-sequence the larger effects of stratification may come from accretion as was suggested in relation to metallicity and planet formation. As it evolves through the giant branch, stratification appears around the hydrogen burning shell. It may create hydrodynamic instabilities and be related to abundance anomalies on the giant branch. After the He flash the star evolves to …
Atmospheric compositions can provide powerful diagnostics of formation and migration histories of planetary systems. We investigate constraints on atmospheric abundances of H$_2$O, Na, and K, in a sample of transiting exoplanets using latest transmission spectra and new H$_2$ broadened opacities of Na and K. Our sample of 19 exoplanets spans from cool mini-Neptunes to hot Jupiters, with equilibrium temperatures between $\sim$300 and 2700 K. Using homogeneous Bayesian retrievals we report atmospheric abundances of Na, K, and H$_2$O, and their detection significances, confirming 6 planets with s…
They Won't Be Giants: Missing Metal-Rich RGB Stars in Gaia Data Indicate Truncated Stellar Evolution
The Ohio State University（俄亥俄州立大学）；Flatiron Institute（平顿研究所）；Monash University（蒙纳士大学）；Universidad Bernardo O’Higgins（贝尔纳多·奥希金斯大学）；Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México（墨西哥国立自治大学）
We report the statistical properties of stars and brown dwarfs obtained from four radiation hydrodynamical simulations of star cluster formation, the metallicities of which span a range from 1/100 to 3 times the solar value. Unlike previous similar investigations of the effects of metallicity on stellar properties, these new calculations treat dust and gas temperatures separately and include a thermochemical model of the diffuse interstellar medium. The more advanced treatment of the interstellar medium gives rise to very different gas and dust temperature distributions in the four calculation…
The effective temperature (Teff) distribution of stellar evolution models along the red giant branch (RGB) is sensitive to a number of parameters including the overall metallicity, elemental abundance patterns, the efficiency of convection, and the treatment of the surface boundary condition. Recently there has been interest in using observational estimates of the RGB Teff to place constraints on the mixing length parameter, a_MLT, and possible variation with metallicity. Here we use 1D MESA stellar evolution models to explore the sensitivity of the RGB Teff to the treatment of the surface bou…
We present a new detailed abundance study of field red horizontal branch (RHB) and blue horizontal branch (BHB) non-variable stars. High resolution and high S/N echelle spectra of 11 RHB and 12 BHB were obtained with the McDonald 2.7 m telescope, and the RHB sample was augmented by reanalysis of spectra of 25 stars from a recent survey. We derived stellar atmospheric parameters based on spectroscopic constraints, and computed relative abundance ratios for 24 species of 19 elements. The species include Si II and Ca II, which have not been previously studied in RHB and BHB (Teff < 9000 K) stars.…
Large abundance anomalies have been previously detected in Horizontal Branch B-type stars. We present the first high resolution study of isotopic anomalies and chemical abundances in six Horizontal Branch B-type stars in globular clusters NGC6397 and NGC6752 and compare them to those observed in HgMn stars. We obtained high-resolution (up to R~115000) UVES spectra of a representative sample of six B-type stars (T183, T191, T193, B652, B2151, B2206). It is the first time an abundance analysis is performed for all elements for which spectral lines were detected in UVES spectra of Horizontal Bran…
The Humphreys-Davidson (HD) limit sets the boundary between evolutionary channels of massive stars that either end their lives as red supergiants (RSGs) or as the hotter blue supergiants (BSGs) and Wolf-Rayet stars. Mixing in the envelopes of massive stars close to their Eddington limit is crucial for investigating the upper luminosity limit of the coolest supergiants. We study the effects of excess mixing in superadiabatic layers that are dominated by radiation pressure, and we critically investigate the effects of mixing and mass loss on the evolution of RSGs with log (Teff/K) < 3.68 - as a …
We present low-resolution (R~850) spectra for 67 asymptotic giant branch (AGB), horizontal branch and red giant branch (RGB) stars in the low-metallicity globular cluster NGC 5466, taken with the VIRUS-P integral-field spectrograph at the 2.7-m Harlan J. Smith telescope at McDonald Observatory. Sixty-six stars are confirmed, and one rejected, as cluster members based on radial velocity, which we measure to an accuracy of 16 km s-1 via template-matching techniques. CN and CH band strengths have been measured for 29 RGB and AGB stars in NGC 5466, and the band strength indices measured from VIRUS…
Internal mixing on the giant branch is an important process which affects the evolution of stars and the chemical evolution of the galaxy. While several mechanisms have been proposed to explain this mixing, better empirical constraints are necessary. Here, we use [C/N] abundances in 26097 evolved stars from the SDSS-IV/APOGEE-2 Data Release 14 to trace mixing and extra mixing in old field giants with -1.7< [Fe/H] < 0.1. We show that the APOGEE [C/N] ratios before any dredge-up occurs are metallicity dependent, but that the change in [C/N] at the first dredge-up is metallicity independent for s…
We present a detailed abundance analysis and atmospheric parameters of 76 stars from a survey to identify field Galactic red horizontal-branch (RHB) stars. High-resolution echelle spectra (R\simeq60,000, S/N>=100) were obtained with 2.7 m Smith Telescope at McDonald Observatory. The target stars were selected only by color and parallax information. Overall metallicities and relative abundances of proton-capture elements (C I, N I, O I, Li I), alpha-elements (Ca I and Si I), and neutron-capture elements (Eu II and La II) were determined by either equivalent width or synthetic spectrum analyses.…
The horizontal branch (HB) morphology of globular clusters (GCs) is most strongly influenced by metallicity. The second parameter phenomenon acknowledges that metallicity alone is not enough to describe the HB morphology of all GCs. In particular, the outer Galactic halo contains GCs with redder HBs at a given metallicity than are found inside the Solar circle. Thus, at least a second parameter is required to characterize HB morphology. Here we analyze the median color difference between the HB and the red giant branch (RGB), d(V-I), measured from HST ACS photometry of 60 GCs within ~20 kpc of…
The evolution and lifetimes of thermally pulsating asymptotic giant branch (TP-AGB) stars suffer from significant uncertainties. In this work, we analyze the numbers and luminosity functions of TP-AGB stars in six quiescent, low metallicity ([Fe/H] $\lesssim -0.86$) galaxies taken from the ANGST sample, using HST photometry in both optical and near-infrared filters. The galaxies contain over 1000 TP-AGB stars (at least 60 per field). We compare the observed TP-AGB luminosity functions and relative numbers of TP-AGB and RGB stars, to models generated from different suites of TP-AGB evolutionary…
