A metallicity study of F, G, K and M dwarfs in the Coma Berenices open cluster from the APOGEE survey

TL;DR

This study measures metallicities of F, G, K, and M dwarf stars in the Coma Berenices cluster using APOGEE spectra, finding near-solar metallicity with slight variations explained by atomic diffusion.

Contribution

First detailed homogeneous metallicity analysis of multiple stellar types in Coma Berenices using high-resolution NIR spectra from APOGEE.

Findings

Mean metallicity for G, K, M dwarfs is +0.04 dex.

F-type stars show slightly lower metallicity by 0.04 dex.

Atomic diffusion explains the metallicity dip in F dwarfs.

Abstract

We present a study of metallicities in a sample of main sequence stars with spectral types M, K, G and F ($T_{\rm eff}$ $\sim$ 3200 -- 6500K and log $g$ $\sim$ 4.3 -- 5.0 dex) belonging to the solar neighborhood young open cluster Coma Berenices. Metallicities were determined using the high-resolution (R=$\lambda$/$\Delta$ $\lambda$ $\sim$ 22,500) NIR spectra ($\lambda$1.51 -- $\lambda$1.69 $\mu$m) of the SDSS-IV APOGEE survey. Membership to the cluster was confirmed using previous studies in the literature along with APOGEE radial velocities and Gaia DR2. An LTE analysis using plane-parallel MARCS model atmospheres and the APOGEE DR16 line list was adopted to compute synthetic spectra and derive atmospheric parameters ($T_{\rm eff}$ and log $g$) for the M dwarfs and metallicities for the sample. The derived metallicities are near solar and are homogeneous at the level of the expected uncertainties, in particular when considering stars from a given stellar class. The mean metallicity computed for the sample of G, K, and M dwarfs is $\langle$[Fe/H]$\rangle$ = +0.04 $\pm$ 0.02 dex; however, the metallicities of the F-type stars are slightly lower, by about 0.04 dex, when compared to cooler and less massive members. Models of atomic diffusion can explain this modest abundance dip for the F dwarfs, indicating that atomic diffusion operates in Coma Berenices stars. The [Fe/H] dip occurs in nearly the same effective temperature range as that found in previous analyses of the lithium and beryllium abundances in Coma Berenices.