Element abundances in X-ray emitting plasmas in stars

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent findings on element abundances in stellar X-ray plasmas, highlighting advances enabled by high-resolution spectroscopy and their implications for astrophysics.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of current knowledge on stellar X-ray plasma abundances and discusses recent diagnostic improvements from Chandra and XMM-Newton data.

Findings

Enhanced understanding of abundance patterns in stellar coronae

Identification of element fractionation processes in X-ray emitting plasmas

Insights into stellar evolution and galactic chemical enrichment

Abstract

Studies of element abundances in stars are of fundamental interest for their impact in a wide astrophysical context, from our understanding of galactic chemistry and its evolution, to their effect on models of stellar interiors, to the influence of the composition of material in young stellar environments on the planet formation process. We review recent results of studies of abundance properties of X-ray emitting plasmas in stars, ranging from the corona of the Sun and other solar-like stars, to pre-main sequence low-mass stars, and to early-type stars. We discuss the status of our understanding of abundance patterns in stellar X-ray plasmas, and recent advances made possible by accurate diagnostics now accessible thanks to the high resolution X-ray spectroscopy with Chandra and XMM-Newton.