Chemically Peculiar A/F Stars in Open Clusters of the Milky Way

TL;DR

This paper reviews surface abundance anomalies in A/F stars within open clusters, highlighting the role of diffusion and mixing processes, and discusses Gaia mission predictions for observing these stars.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of observed abundance patterns in open cluster A/F stars and their alignment with evolutionary models, emphasizing hydrodynamical processes.

Findings

Star-to-star abundance variations observed in A dwarfs.

Hydrodynamical processes likely hinder microscopic diffusion.

Gaia will observe numerous A stars and clusters.

Abstract

Abundance anomalies have been determined at the surface of many field and open cluster A and F dwarfs. These abundance anomalies are most likely caused by microscopic diffusion at work within the stable envelopes of A stars. However diffusion can be counteracted by several other mixing processes such as convection, rotational mixing and mass loss. We present a short review of the surface abundance patterns of A/F stars in the Pleiades (100 Myr), Coma Berenices (450 Myr) and Hyades (650 Myr) open clusters. Real star-to-star variations of the abundances were found for several chemical elements in the A dwarfs in these clusters. The derived abundances are then compared to evolutionary models from the Montreal group. These comparisons strongly suggest the occurence of hydrodynamical processes at play within the radiative zones of these stars and hindering the effects of microscopic diffusion (mixing processes/mass loss). In the frame of Gaia mission, simulations are presented that predict the number of A stars and open clusters that Gaia will observe in the Galaxy.