Related papers: New attempts to understand nanodiamond stardust
Context. Over the past few years, the $R$-Process Alliance (RPA) has successfully carried out a search for stars that are highly enhanced in elements produced via the rapid neutron-capture ($r$-) process. In particular, the RPA has…
We report C, N, and Si isotopic data for 59 highly 13C-enriched presolar submicron- to micron-sized SiC grains from the Murchison meteorite, including eight putative nova grains (PNGs) and 29 15N-rich (14N/15N<=solar) AB grains, and their…
The s-enhanced and very metal-poor star CS 30322-023 shows a puzzling abundance pattern of the neutron-capture elements, i.e. several neutron-capture elements such as Ba, Pb etc. show enhancement, but other neutron-capture elements such as…
High signal to noise, high resolution spectra were obtained for a sample of normal, mild barium, and barium giants. Atmospheric parameters were determined from the FeI and FeII lines. Abundances for Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn,…
The chemical abundances of metal-poor stars are an excellent test bed by which to set new constraints on models of neutron-capture processes at low metallicity. Some r-process-rich (hereafter r-rich) metal-poor stars, such as HD221170, show…
We present a detailed analysis of 26 barium stars, including dwarf barium stars, providing their atmospheric parameters (Teff, log g, [Fe/H], vt) and elemental abundances. We aim at deriving gravities and luminosity classes of the sample…
Palladium (Pd) and silver (Ag) are the key elements for probing the weak component in the rapid neutron-capture process (r-process) of stellar nucleosynthesis. We performed a detailed analysis of the high-resolution and high signal-to-noise…
There has been a concerted effort in recent years to identify the astrophysical sites of the $r$-process that can operate early in the Galaxy. The discovery of many $r$-process-enhanced (RPE) stars (especially by the $R$-process Alliance…
Analysis of bulk meteorite compositions has revealed small isotopic variations due to the presence of material (e.g., stardust) that preserved the signature of nuclear reactions occurring in specific stellar sites. The interpretation of…
We test the hypothesis that the observed first-peak (Sr, Y, Zr) and second-peak (Ba) s-process elemental abundances in low-metallicity Milky Way stars, and the abundances of the elements Mo and Ru, can be explained by a pervasive r-process…
Abundances of low-metallicity stars offer a unique opportunity to understand the contribution and conditions of the different processes that synthesize heavy elements. Many old, metal-poor stars show a robust abundance pattern for elements…
We present new observational benchmarks of rapid neutron-capture process (r-process) nucleosynthesis for elements at and between the first (A ~ 80) and second (A ~ 130) peaks. Our analysis is based on archival ultraviolet and optical…
Long-term observations of photoluminescence at the single-molecule level were until recently very diffcult, due to the photobleaching of organic ?uorophore molecules. Although inorganic semiconductor nanocrystals can overcome this diffculty…
Recent improvements in stellar models for intermediate-mass and massive stars are recalled, together with their expectations for the synthesis of radioactive nuclei of lifetime $\tau \lesssim 25$ Myr, in order to re-examine the origins of…
We present our chemical abundance investigation of the metal-poor ([Fe/H]=-1.60 dex), r-process-enriched ([Eu/Fe]=0.73 dex) halo star HD 20 using novel and archival high-resolution spectra at outstanding signal-to-noise ratios. By combining…
It has been proposed, or confirmed, that diamond nanoparticles exist in various environments in space: close to active galactic nuclei, in the vicinity of supernovae and pulsars, in the interior of several planets in the Solar system, in…
Nano-diamonds remain an intriguing component of the dust in the few sources where they have been observed in emission. This work focusses on the nano-diamonds observed in circumstellar discs and is an attempt to derive critical information…
We have derived isotopic fractions of europium, samarium, and neodymium in two metal-poor giants with differing neutron-capture nucleosynthetic histories. These isotopic fractions were measured from new high resolution (R ~ 120,000), high…
The determination of heavy element abundances from planetary nebula (PN) spectra provides an exciting opportunity to study the nucleosynthesis occurring in the progenitor asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star. We perform post-processing…
Employing high resolution spectra obtained with the near-UV sensitive detector on the Keck I HIRES, supplemented by data obtained with the McDonald Observatory 2-d coude, we have performed a comprehensive chemical composition analysis of…