O and Na abundance patterns in open clusters of the Galactic disk

Date

2009

Authors

De Silva, Gayandhi M
Gibson, Bradley K
Lattanzio, John
Asplund, Martin

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Springer

Abstract

Aims. A global O-Na abundance anti-correlation is observed in globular clusters, which, is not present in the Galactic field population. Open clusters are thought to be chemically homogeneous internally. We aim to explore the O and Na abundance pattern among the open cluster population of the Galactic disk. Methods. We combine open cluster abundance ratios of O and Na from high-resolution spectroscopic studies in the literature and normalize them to a common solar scale. We compare the open cluster abundances against the globular clusters and disk field. Results. We find that the different environments show different abundance patterns. The open, clusters do not show the O-Na anticorrelation at the extreme O-depletion/Na-enhancement as observed in globular clusters. Furthermore, the high Na abundances in open clusters do not match the disk field stars. If real, it may be suggesting that the dissolution of present-day open clusters is not a significant contribution to building the Galactic disk. Large-scale homogeneous studies of clusters and field will further confirm the reality of the Na enhancement.

Description

Keywords

Keywords: Abundance ratios; Anticorrelation; Galactic disks; Galactic fields; Galaxy: abundances; Galaxy: formation; Galaxy: open clusters and associations: general; Globular clusters; High NA; High resolution; Open clusters; Spectroscopic studies; Disks (structura Galaxy: abundances; Galaxy: formation; Galaxy: open clusters and associations: general

Citation

Source

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Type

Journal article

Book Title

Entity type

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2037-12-31