Using near-ultraviolet spectra obtained with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph onboard the Hubble Space Telescope, we detect neutral tellurium in three metal-poor stars enriched by products of r-process nucleosynthesis, BD+17 3248, HD 108317, and HD 128279. Tellurium (Te, Z=52) is found at the second r-process peak (A=130) associated with the N=82 neutron shell closure, and it has not been detected previously in Galactic halo stars. The derived tellurium abundances match the scaled solar system r-process distribution within the uncertainties, confirming the predicted second peak r-process residuals. These results suggest that tellurium is predominantly produced in the main component of the r-process, along with the rare earth elements.
@article{arxiv.1202.2378,
title = {Detection of the Second r-process Peak Element Tellurium in Metal-Poor Stars},
author = {Ian U. Roederer and James E. Lawler and John J. Cowan and Timothy C. Beers and Anna Frebel and Inese I. Ivans and Hendrik Schatz and Jennifer S. Sobeck and Christopher Sneden},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1202.2378},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters (5 pages, 2 figures)