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Abundances of disk and bulge giants from high-resolution optical spectra : V. Molybdenum: The p-process element

Forsberg, R. LU ; Ryde, N. LU orcid ; Jönsson, H. ; Rich, R. M. and Johansen, A. LU (2022) In Astronomy and Astrophysics 666.
Abstract

Aims. In this work, we aim to make a differential comparison of the neutron-capture and p-process element molybdenum (Mo) in the stellar populations in the local disk(s) and the bulge, focusing on minimising possible systematic effects in the analysis. Methods. The stellar sample consists of 45 bulge and 291 local disk K-giants observed with high-resolution optical spectra. The abundances are determined by fitting synthetic spectra using the Spectroscopy Made Easy (SME) code. The disk sample is separated into thin and thick disk components using a combination of abundances and kinematics. The cosmic origin of Mo is investigated and discussed by comparing with published abundances of Mo and the neutron-capture elements cerium (Ce) and... (More)

Aims. In this work, we aim to make a differential comparison of the neutron-capture and p-process element molybdenum (Mo) in the stellar populations in the local disk(s) and the bulge, focusing on minimising possible systematic effects in the analysis. Methods. The stellar sample consists of 45 bulge and 291 local disk K-giants observed with high-resolution optical spectra. The abundances are determined by fitting synthetic spectra using the Spectroscopy Made Easy (SME) code. The disk sample is separated into thin and thick disk components using a combination of abundances and kinematics. The cosmic origin of Mo is investigated and discussed by comparing with published abundances of Mo and the neutron-capture elements cerium (Ce) and europium (Eu). Results. We determine reliable Mo abundances for 35 bulge and 282 disk giants with a typical uncertainty of [Mo/Fe] ∼ 0.2 and ∼0.1 dex for the bulge and disk, respectively. Conclusions. We find that the bulge is possibly enhanced in [Mo/Fe] compared to the thick disk, which we do not observe in either [Ce/Fe] or [Eu/Fe]. This might suggest a higher past star-formation rate in the bulge; however, as we do not observe the bulge to be enhanced in [Eu/Fe], the origin of the molybdenum enhancement is yet to be constrained. Although the scatter is large, we may be observing evidence of the p-process contributing to the heavy element production in the chemical evolution of the bulge.

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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Galaxy: abundances, Galaxy: bulge, Galaxy: disk, Galaxy: evolution, Solar neighborhood, Stars: abundances
in
Astronomy and Astrophysics
volume
666
article number
A125
publisher
EDP Sciences
external identifiers
  • scopus:85145352991
ISSN
0004-6361
DOI
10.1051/0004-6361/202244013
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2022 EDP Sciences. All rights reserved.
id
872fe5ff-aa9d-4346-b32d-228188343a1d
date added to LUP
2024-03-25 03:54:56
date last changed
2025-04-04 14:47:54
@article{872fe5ff-aa9d-4346-b32d-228188343a1d,
  abstract     = {{<p>Aims. In this work, we aim to make a differential comparison of the neutron-capture and p-process element molybdenum (Mo) in the stellar populations in the local disk(s) and the bulge, focusing on minimising possible systematic effects in the analysis. Methods. The stellar sample consists of 45 bulge and 291 local disk K-giants observed with high-resolution optical spectra. The abundances are determined by fitting synthetic spectra using the Spectroscopy Made Easy (SME) code. The disk sample is separated into thin and thick disk components using a combination of abundances and kinematics. The cosmic origin of Mo is investigated and discussed by comparing with published abundances of Mo and the neutron-capture elements cerium (Ce) and europium (Eu). Results. We determine reliable Mo abundances for 35 bulge and 282 disk giants with a typical uncertainty of [Mo/Fe] ∼ 0.2 and ∼0.1 dex for the bulge and disk, respectively. Conclusions. We find that the bulge is possibly enhanced in [Mo/Fe] compared to the thick disk, which we do not observe in either [Ce/Fe] or [Eu/Fe]. This might suggest a higher past star-formation rate in the bulge; however, as we do not observe the bulge to be enhanced in [Eu/Fe], the origin of the molybdenum enhancement is yet to be constrained. Although the scatter is large, we may be observing evidence of the p-process contributing to the heavy element production in the chemical evolution of the bulge.</p>}},
  author       = {{Forsberg, R. and Ryde, N. and Jönsson, H. and Rich, R. M. and Johansen, A.}},
  issn         = {{0004-6361}},
  keywords     = {{Galaxy: abundances; Galaxy: bulge; Galaxy: disk; Galaxy: evolution; Solar neighborhood; Stars: abundances}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{10}},
  publisher    = {{EDP Sciences}},
  series       = {{Astronomy and Astrophysics}},
  title        = {{Abundances of disk and bulge giants from high-resolution optical spectra : V. Molybdenum: The p-process element}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202244013}},
  doi          = {{10.1051/0004-6361/202244013}},
  volume       = {{666}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}