New

insights on galac/c archaeology:

age-abundance correla/ons

Nd

La

@DrJorgeMelendez
Dep. Astronomia, IAG/USP

h7p://www.astro.iag.usp.br/~sampa

Ba

F Be

Ti

What is the limit in chemical

abundance precision?

Sneden suggests a precision 0.06 dex and accuracy

worse than 0.1 dex: accuracy be7er than 0.1 dex in
abundance ra/os is dicult to achieve at the moment

What is the limit in abundance precision?

Chemical abundances in the
Sun (Asplund et al. 2009)

R 300 000
S/N 1000
Error 0.05 dex?

Can we break the 0.05 dex barrier in

elemental abundances?

Very high S/N: reduces errors in W

High spectral resolu/on: reduces errors in W
Careful selec/on of lines: reduces blends
Strictly dieren/al approach: reduces





model errors

Can we break the 0.05 dex barrier in

elemental abundances?
Very high S/N
High spectral resolu/on
Careful selec/on of lines
Strictly dieren>al approach using stars similar
between them (stellar twins):
- precise rela>ve efec>ve temperartures
- line-by-line cancel errors in gf-values
- weak dependence on model atmospheres

Dieren/al abundances AX (element X)

Precise
differential EW
measurements
are key to
precise
differential
abundances
Bedell, Melndez,
Bean et al. 2014

Example of
Magellan
spectra of
11 solar twins
and the Sun
(total spectral
coverage
3350 A -1m)

Small part
(597-603nm)
of solar twin &
Suns spectra
Melndez et al. 2009, ApJ, 704, L66

[Cr/Fe] distribu/on in 11 solar twins

Star-to-star
sca7er of
only
0.009 dex

Test using asteroids: sca7er of 0.006 dex

Bedell, Melndez, Bean, Ramrez, Leite & Asplund 2014

Spectroscopic equilibrium in HIP 56948

(LTE) = 0.0096 dex
(NLTE) = 0.0093 dex

Dieren/al method
is also useful to
obtain high
precision stellar
parameters
( Te 10 K,
log g 0.02 dex)
good stellar

masses and ages

Abundance ra/os as a func/on of age

Spina et al. 2016

Spina et al. 2016

Knee ages are correlated with SN yields

Spina et al. 2016

Neutron-capture elements vs age

Neutron-capture elements

Chemical clocks.
Nissen (2016)

Spina et al. (2016):

[Y/Mg] or [Y/Al] can be used as stellar clocks

Conclusion
Precision Spectroscopy (0.01 dex) of solar
twins (or stellar twins is a powerful tool
for studies of galac/c chemical evolu/on

@DrJorgeMelendez
Dep. Astronomia, IAG/USP

h7p://www.astro.iag.usp.br/~sampa