Elemental abundances and classification of CEMP stars

TL;DR

This study provides detailed elemental abundance analyses of CEMP stars, combining new high-resolution spectroscopic data with literature, to better understand their classification and nucleosynthesis origins.

Contribution

It offers the first Eu abundance measurements for some CEMP stars and discusses the similarities between CEMP-r/s and CEMP-s stars, advancing understanding of their origins.

Findings

Lack of reliable r-process element data for 67% of CEMP stars.

Eu abundances determined for four stars for the first time.

CEMP-r/s stars likely share the same origin as CEMP-s stars.

Abstract

We present a detailed study of Carbon-Enhanced Metal-Poor (CEMP) stars, based on high-resolution spectroscopic observations of a sample of 18 stars. The stellar spectra for this sample were obtained at the 4.2m William Herschel Telescope (WHT) in 2001 and 2002, using the Utrecht Echelle Spectrograph (UES), at a resolving power R ~52000 and S/N ~ 40, covering the wavelength range lambda-lambda 3700-5700 A. The atmospheric parameters determined for this sample indicate temperatures ranging from 4750 C to 7100 K, log g from 1.5 to 4.3, and metallicities -3.0 <= [Fe/H] <= -1.7. Elemental abundances for C, Na, Mg, Sc, Ti, Cr, Cu, Zn, Sr, Y, Zr, Ba, La, Ce, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Dy are determined. Abundances for an additional 109 stars were taken from the literature and combined with the data of our sample. The literature sample reveals a lack of reliable abundance estimates for species that might be associated with the r-process elements for about 67% of CEMP stars, preventing a complete understanding of this class of stars, since [Ba/Eu] ratios are used to classify them. Although eight stars in our observed sample are also found in the literature sample, Eu abundances or limits are determined for four of these stars for the first time. From the observed correlations between C, Ba, and Eu, we argue that the CEMP-r/s class has the same astronomical origin as CEMP-s stars, highlighting the need for a more complete understanding of Eu production.