Peculiar Hydrogen-deficient Carbon Stars: Strontium-Rich Stars and the s-Process

TL;DR

This study identifies a new subclass of hydrogen-deficient carbon stars enriched in strontium, explores their s-process nucleosynthesis, and estimates neutron exposure levels using spectral analysis and stellar evolution models.

Contribution

It introduces the Sr-rich subclass of HdC stars, compares their properties with RCB stars, and estimates neutron exposure parameters using MESA models, revealing differences in s-process enrichment.

Findings

Six Sr-rich HdC stars identified, including two RCBs and four dLHdCs.

dLHdC stars are more likely to be Sr-rich than RCBs, with occurrence rates of ~13% and ~2%.

Neutron exposure in models is lower (~0.1 mb$^{-1}$) than in the Sr-rich star U Aqr (~0.15-0.6 mb$^{-1}$).

Abstract

Context: R Coronae Borealis (RCB) variables and their non-variable counterparts, the dustless Hydrogen-Deficient Carbon (dLHdC) stars have been known to exhibit enhanced s-processed material on their surfaces, especially Sr, Y, and Ba. No comprehensive work has been done to explore the s-process in these types of stars, however one particular RCB star, U Aqr, has been under scrutiny for its extraordinary Sr enhancement. Aims: We aim to identify RCB and dLHdC stars that have significantly enhanced Sr abundances, such as U Aqr, and use stellar evolution models to begin to estimate the type of neutron exposure that occurs in a typical HdC star. Methods: We compare the strength of the Sr II 4077 $\AA$ spectral line to Ca II H to identify the new subclass of Sr-rich HdCs. We additionally use the structural and abundance information from existing RCB MESA models to calculate the neutron exposure parameter, $\tau$ Results: We identify six stars in the Sr-rich class. Two are RCBs, and four are dLHdCs. We additionally find that the preferred RCB MESA model has a neutron exposure $\tau$ ~ 0.1 mb$^{-1}$, which is lower than the estimated $\tau$ between 0.15 and 0.6 mb$^{-1}$ for the Sr-rich star U Aqr found in the literature. We find trends in the neutron exposure corresponding to He-burning shell temperature, metallicity, and assumed s-processing site. Conclusions: We have found a sub-class of 6 HdCs known as the Sr-rich class, which tend to lie in the halo, outside the typical distribution of RCBs and dLHdCs. We find that dLHdC stars are more likely to be Sr-rich than RCBs, with an occurrence rate of ~13\% for dLHdCs and ~2\% for RCBs. This is one of the first potential spectroscopic differences between RCBs and dLHdCs, along with dLHdCs having stronger surface abundances of $^{18}$O.