Readingsample
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Principles and Perspectives in Cosmochemistry Lecture Notes of the Kodai School on 'Synthesis of Elements in Stars' held at Kodaikanal Observatory, India, April 29 - May 13, 2008 Bearbeitet von Aruna Goswami, B. Eswar Reddy 1. Auflage 2010. Buch. x, 440 S. Hardcover ISBN 978 3 642 10351 3 Format (B x L): 15,5 x 23,5 cm Gewicht: 899 g Weitere Fachgebiete > Physik, Astronomie > Astronomie: Allgemeines > Astrophysik Zu Inhaltsverzeichnis schnell und portofrei erhältlich bei Die Online-Fachbuchhandlung beck-shop.de ist spezialisiert auf Fachbücher, insbesondere Recht, Steuern und Wirtschaft. Im Sortiment finden Sie alle Medien (Bücher, Zeitschriften, CDs, eBooks, etc.) aller Verlage. Ergänzt wird das Programm durch Services wie Neuerscheinungsdienst oder Zusammenstellungen von Büchern zu Sonderpreisen. Der Shop führt mehr als 8 Millionen Produkte. Nucleosynthesis of Low and Intermediate-mass Stars Amanda I. Karakas Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Mount Stromlo Observatory, Weston Creek ACT 2611, Australia [email protected] Summary. The asymptotic giant branch (AGB) is the last nuclear-burning phase for low and intermediate-mass stars with initial masses between about 0.8 to 8 solar masses. The AGB phase of evolution is very short, comprising less than 1 per cent of the main-sequence lifetime, nevertheless, it is on the AGB that the richest nucleosynthesis occurs for this mass range. The nucleosynthesis is driven by thermal instabilities of the helium-burning shell, the products of which are dredged to the stellar surface by recurrent mixing episodes. Hot bottom burning occurs in the most massive AGB stars, and this also alters the surface composition. I review the evolution and nucleosynthesis from the main sequence through to the tip of the AGB. The nucleosynthesis that occurs during the AGB is explored in detail, including a discussion of the effects of hot bottom burning. I finish with a brief review of the slow-neutron-capture process that produces elements heavier than iron. Keywords: stars: AGB and post-AGB stars — planetary nebulae: general — nuclear reactions, nucleosynthesis, abundances 1 Introduction All stars in the mass range 0.8M to ∼ 8M, including our own Sun, will become asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars (see Herwig [1] for a recent review). The AGB is the last nuclear burning phase of stellar evolution for this mass range, and is brief, lasting much less than 1% of the time spent during core hydrogen (H) burning on the main sequence. AGB stars are evolved objects and are found in the high-luminosity, low temperature region of the Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram. AGB stars have evolved through core H and helium (He) burning and are now sustained against gravitational collapse by alternate H-shell and He-shell burning. The He-burning shell is thermally unstable and flashes or pulses every 104 years, depending on the stellar mass. AGB stars are often observed to be chemically different from their less evolved counterparts, and show enrichments in carbon and heavy elements synthesized A. Goswami and B.E. Reddy (eds.), Principles and Perspectives in Cosmochemistry, Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings, DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-10352-0 2, c Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010 108 Amanda I. Karakas by the slow neutron-capture process (the s-process). AGB stars are observed with spectral classes M, MS, S, SC and C, where C-type stars are carbon- rich and have C/O ratios exceeding unity. AGB stars are observed to be long-period Mira, semi-regular or irregular variables with periods ≥ 100 days. Many AGB stars are also observed to be losing mass rapidly (typical mass- −5 −1 loss rates M˙ ∼ 10 M year ) through slow, dense outflows (velocities ∼ 10 km/second). After the ejection of the envelope, the AGB phase is terminated and the star quickly evolves (in ≈ 105 years) to become a post-AGB star, before finally ending its life as a dense white dwarf. For a review of the post- AGB and planetary nebulae phase of evolution, we refer to [2] and [3]. The range of bolometric luminosities and masses of AGB stars can be estimated from the large sample of long-period variables observed in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The luminosities range from Mbol ≈−3.8 to a maximum of ≈−7.1, that corresponds to current masses between about ≈ 1M to 8M [4]. In Figure 1 we show the colour-magnitude diagram (CMD) for the globular cluster M3. A CMD is just a type of HR diagram in which we use colour index rather than spectral class on the horizontal axis; and use the apparent visual magnitude, V , for the vertical axis. While most of the stars in Figure 1 are located on the main sequence, there are distinct bands to the top right of the diagram and an almost horizontal band above the main sequence. Each of these bands, including the main sequence, represents a distinct phase in the life of low to intermediate-mass stars. In the luminous red part of the diagram (top-right corner) there are a few AGB stars. Very few of the AGB stars in globular clusters are more luminous than the tip of the first giant branch which occurs at a bolometric luminosity of Mbol ≈−3.6[5]. AGB stars are particularly important because they are a significant site of nucleosynthesis. The nucleosynthesis during the AGB leads to the production of carbon, nitrogen, fluorine and heavy elements such as barium and lead. Recurrent mixing episodes bring the freshly synthesized material from the core to the envelope, and strong stellar winds ensure that this material is expelled into the interstellar medium (ISM). For these reasons, AGB stars are major factories for the production of the elements in the Universe [7,1]. Knowledge of AGB evolution and nucleosynthesis is vital to obtain an estimate of the contribution of low and intermediate-mass stars to the chemical evolution of galaxies and stellar systems such as M3. For example, a third of the carbon in our Galaxy today is estimated to have been produced in AGB stars [8]. In these lecture notes, we are primarily interested in the changes to the sur- face composition of low and intermediate mass stars during the AGB. Before we get to the AGB stage, it is necessary that we first examine the evolution and nucleosynthesis that occurs prior to the AGB and we cover this material in Sect. 3. AGB evolution is discussed next in Sect. 4, and the nucleosynthe- sis in Sect. 5. We briefly review the s-process in Sect. 6. We begin with some important preliminaries. Nucleosynthesis of Low and Intermediate-mass Stars 109 12 M3 AGB 141618 HB FGB V 2022 main sequence – 0.5 0 0.5 11.5 B–V Fig. 1. Colour-magnitude diagram for M3, using data from [6]. The approximate positions of the main sequence, first giant branch (FGB), horizontal branch (HB), and asymptotic giant branch (AGB) are labelled 2 Some preliminaries In the following lecture notes, it is assumed that the reader has an under- standing of the basics of stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis. We refer to other lectures given at the Kodai School, along with the following textbooks: Clayton [9], Rolfs & Rodney [10], and Iliadis [11] cover all aspects of nuclear astrophysics. Stellar interiors and evolution are covered by Hansen, Kawaler, & Trimble [12]. The chemical evolution of galaxies and stellar systems are discussed by Pagel [13], along with an overview of stellar evolution and nu- clear astrophysics. The topic of AGB stars is covered in detail in [14]. Lugaro [15] reviews stardust in meteorites, with an emphasis on pre-solar grains that originated in AGB stars. Before we begin, it is important to make a few definitions. In the following we will refer to low-mass stars as stars with initial masses between 0.8 to ∼ 2.25M,andintermediate-mass stars as stars with an initial masses be- tween 2.25 and ∼ 8M. Stars in the range 0.8M to 8M evolve through central hydrogen and helium burning and enter the AGB with an electron- degenerate carbon oxygen (C-O) core. The cores of these stars do not reach 110 Amanda I. Karakas the ≈ 800 million K temperatures required for carbon burning. Stars with initial masses between 9–11M may also become AGB stars after core carbon burning; these objects are referred to as super-AGB stars. Stars more massive than about 11M evolve through the central carbon, neon, oxygen and silicon burning stages and end their lives as core collapse supernovae. We do not dis- cuss these massive stars and refer the reader to the lecture notes by Arnould, see also Woosley, Heger, & Weaver [16] and references therein for details. The dividing mass which separates low and intermediate mass is not ar- bitrarily chosen but corresponds to the transition from degenerate to non- degenerate core helium ignition (which is at about 2.25M). The lower mass limit of 0.8M is the minimum mass required to ignite helium and evolve through central helium burning. The upper mass limit of 8M is the maxi- mum mass which avoids core carbon ignition. The mass ranges above are valid for stars with a composition similar to that of our Sun, which is composed of approximately 70% hydrogen by mass, 28% helium (or more precisely, 4He), and about 2% metals. The metal content is referred to as the global metal- licity, Z, and is comprised of about half 16O. Using the solar abundances of Anders & Grevesse [17], we obtain a global solar metallicity of Z =0.019. The revised solar abundances of Asplund, Grevesse & Sauval [18] has reduced the global metallicity to Z ≈ 0.015, primarily because the oxygen abundance of the Sun has been reduced by about a factor of ∼ 2[19].