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Scientific paper
Dec 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006aas...20915609d&link_type=abstract
2007 AAS/AAPT Joint Meeting, American Astronomical Society Meeting 209, #156.09; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society,
Other
Scientific paper
We report results from a search for the ground-state fine-structure line of triply ionized zirconium (Zr) near 8 microns, for several planetary nebulae known to have enhanced abundances of other light neutron-capture elements. The observations were made with the high spectral resolution mid-IR spectrometer TEXES (Lacy et al. 2002, PASP, 114, 153) on the IRTF. Zr, atomic number Z = 40, is part of the “light s-process” peak of nuclei which are synthesized in the region between the H and He-burning shells within AGB stars and mixed into the stellar envelope by dredge-up processes before expulsion of a planetary nebula. The targets included objects for which we have demonstrated that Ge (Z = 32) is enhanced by up to a factor of 5 (Sterling et al. 2005, ApJ, 625, 368), and Kr (Z = 36) is enhanced by factors of up to 10 (Sterling et al. 2006, submitted; Sterling & Dinerstein, in preparation). According to both evolutionary models and observations of Galactic S-type stars, Zr can be even more highly enriched than Ge or Kr, with enrichment factors of up to 20 30 (Busso et al. 2001, ApJ, 557, 802; Vanture & Wallerstein 2002, ApJ, 564, 397). If Zr is present primarily in gaseous form in these planetary nebulae, our failure to detect the mid-IR Zr line sets constraints on a combination of the initial mass of the progenitor stars and the details of the s-process and convective mixing. An alternate interpretation is that much of the Zr, a highly refractory element, is locked up in dust grains that formed in the AGB star’s atmosphere before or during envelope ejection.
This research was supported by NSF grants AST 97-31156 and 04-06809.
Dinerstein Harriet L.
Lacy John H.
Sellgren Kris
Sterling Nicholas C.
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