English

A differential study of the oxygen abundances in the Galactic thin and thick disks

Astrophysics 2010-04-28 v2

Abstract

First results from a study into the abundance trends of oxygen in the Galactic thin and thick disks are presented. Oxygen abundances for 63 nearby F and G dwarf stars, based on very high resolution spectra (R215000R\sim215 000) and high signal-to-noise (S/N>400S/N>400) of the faint forbidden oxygen line at 6300 {\AA}, have been determined. Our findings can be summarized as follows: {\bf 1)} at [Fe/H]<0\rm [Fe/H]<0 the oxygen trends in the thin and thick disk are smooth and distinct, indicating their different origins, {\bf 2)} [O/Fe]\rm [O/Fe] for the thick disk stars show a turn-over at [Fe/H]0.35\sim -0.35, indicating the peak of the enrichment from SNe type Ia to the interstellar medium, {\bf 3)} the thin disk stars show a shallow decrease going from [Fe/H]0.7\rm [Fe/H] \sim -0.7 to the highest metallicities with no apparent turn-over present indicating a more quiet star formation history, and {\bf 4)} [O/Fe]\rm [O/Fe] continues to decrease at [Fe/H]>0\rm [Fe/H]>0 without showing the leveling out that previously has been seen.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0304182,
  title  = {A differential study of the oxygen abundances in the Galactic thin and thick disks},
  author = {T. Bensby and S. Feltzing and I. Lundström},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0304182},
  year   = {2010}
}

Comments

5 pages, Carnegie Observatories Astrophysics Series, Vol. 4: Origin and Evolution of the Elements, ed. A. McWilliam and M. Rauch (Pasadena: Carnegie Observatories, http://www.ociw.edu/ociw/symposia/series/symposium4/proceedings.html)