Solar origins: Place and Chemical Composition

TL;DR

This paper presents a chemical evolution model that accurately reproduces the elemental abundance gradients and history of the Galactic disk, supporting the idea that the Sun formed from a well-mixed interstellar medium at a specific galactic radius.

Contribution

The study introduces a Z-dependent yields chemical evolution model that matches observed abundance gradients and solar vicinity data, providing insights into the Sun's formation environment.

Findings

Model reproduces O/H, C/H, C/O gradients of the Galactic disk.

Model fits observed abundances from HII regions and stars.

Supports Sun's formation from a well-mixed ISM at 7.6 kpc.

Abstract

We discuss a chemical evolution model with Z-dependent yields that reproduces the O/H, C/H, and C/O gradients of the Galactic disk and the chemical history of the solar vicinity. The model fits the H, He, C, and O abundances derived from recombination lines of the HII region M17 (including the fraction of C and O atoms embedded in dust); the protosolar H, He, C, O, and Fe abundances; and the C/O-O/H, C/Fe-Fe/H, and O/Fe-Fe/H relations derived from stars of the solar vicinity. The agreement of the model with the protosolar abundances at the Sun-formation time implies that the Sun originated from a well mixed ISM at a galactocentric distance of 7.6 $\pm$ 0.8 kpc.