Related papers: Disentangling the origin of chemical differences u…
The components of the wide binary HIP64030=HD 113984 show a large (about 0.25 dex) iron content difference (Desidera et al.~2006 A&A 454, 581). The positions of the components on the color magnitude diagram suggest that the primary is a…
Hydrogravitional-dynamics (HGD) cosmology of Gibson/Schild 1996 predicts proto-globular-star-cluster PGC clumps of Earth-mass planets fragmented from plasma at ~0.3 Myr. Protogalaxies retained the ~0.03 Myr baryonic density existing at the…
The outflows of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars are rich astrochemical laboratories, hosting different chemical regimes: from non-equilibrium chemistry close to the star, to dust formation further out, and finally photochemistry in the…
We explore to which extent stars within Galactic disk open clusters resemble each other in the high-dimensional space of their photospheric element abundances, and contrast this with pairs of field stars. Our analysis is based on abundances…
Accurate measurements of interstellar deuterium abundances along lines of sight extending out to several hundred parsecs by FUSE and other instruments is making D/H a useful tool for understanding Galactic chemical evolution. We find that…
While we observe a large amount of cold interstellar gas and dust in a subset of the early-type galaxy (ETG) population, the source of this material remains unclear. The two main, competing scenarios are external accretion of lower mass,…
Dynamical evolution within planetary systems can cause planets to be engulfed by their host stars. Following engulfment, the stellar photosphere abundance pattern will reflect accretion of rocky material from planets. Multi-star systems are…
The stellar mass-luminosity relation is poorly constrained by observations for high mass stars. We describe our program to find eclipsing massive binaries in the Magellanic Clouds using photometry of regions rich in massive stars, and our…
Standard stellar evolution theory poorly predicts the surface abundances of chemical species in low-mass, red giant branch (RGB) stars. Observations show an enhancement of p-p chain and CNO cycle products in red giant envelopes, which…
Although not predicted by standard stellar evolution, the surface abundance of light elements, such as lithium (Li), carbon, and nitrogen, changes during the red giant branch (RGB) as a result of extra-mixing. This is associated usually…
Exo-planets are preferentially found around high metallicity main sequence stars. We aim at investigating whether evolved stars share this property, and what this tells about planet formation. Statistical tools and the basic concepts of…
We have identified an important source of mixing in stellar radiation zones, that would arise whenever two conditions are satisfied: (1) the presence of an inverse vertical compositional gradient, and (2) the presence of…
Observations at various wavelengths of late B-type stars exhibiting strong overabundances of the chemical elements Hg and Mn in their atmospheres indicate that these stars are frequently found in binary and multiple systems. We intend to…
In this paper we present a new chemical evolution model for the Galaxy which assumes two main infall episodes for the formation of halo-thick disk and thin disk, respectively. We do not try to take into account explicitly the evolution of…
We present a stochastic model based on the Monte Carlo technique to study the inhomogeneous chemical evolution of the Galactic halo. In particular, we consider the local enrichment and subsequent mixing of the interstellar gas resulting…
We have compiled a sample of globular clusters with high quality stellar abundances from the literature to compare to the chemistries of stars in the Galaxy and those in dwarf spheroidal galaxies. Of the 45 globular clusters examined, 29…
Ultra-faint dwarf galaxies are among the oldest and most metal-poor galaxies in the cosmos, observed to contain no gas and a high dark matter mass fraction. Understanding the chemical abundance dispersion in such extreme environments could…
We describe three corrections that should be applied to the observed relative incidence of nearby stars hosting giant planets. These are diffusion in the stellar atmosphere, use of the [Ref] index in place of [Fe/H] for metallicity, and…
Despite a rich observational background, few spectroscopic studies have dealt with the measurement of the carbon isotopic ratio in giant stars. However, it is a key element in understanding the mixing mechanisms that occur in the interiors…
Since stellar populations enhance particular element abundances according to the yields and lifetimes of the stellar progenitors, the chemical evolution of galaxies serves as one of the key tools that allows the tracing of galaxy evolution.…