Prospects of stellar abundance studies from near-IR spectra observed with the E-ELT

Abstract:
In 2006 ESO Council authorized a Phase B study of a European AO-telescope with a 42 m segmented primary with a 5-mirror design, the E-ELT Several reports and working groups have already presented science cases for an E-ELT, specifically exploiting the new capabilities of such a large telescope. One of the alms of the design has been to find a balance in the performances between an E-ELT and the James Webb Space Telescope, JWST. Apart from the larger photon-collecting area, the strengths of the former is the higher attainable spatial and spectral resolutions. The E-ELT AO system will have an optimal performance in the near-IR, which makes it specially advantageous. High-resolution spectroscopy in the near-Infrared has, however, not been discussed much This paper aims at filling that gap, by specifically discussing spectroscopy of stellar (mainly red giant), photospheric abundances. Based on studies in the literature of stellar abundances, at the needed medium to high spectral resolutions in the near-infrared (0 8-2 4 mu m), I will try to extrapolate published results to the performance of the E-ELT and explore what could be done at the E-ELT in this field. A discussion on what Instrument characteristics that would be needed for stellar abundance analyses in the near-IR will be given. (C) 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co KGaA, Weinheim