The Solar Photospheric Oxygen Abundance and the Role of 3D Model Atmospheres

Physics

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Scientific paper

The solar oxygen abundance has undergone a major downward revision in the last decade, reputedly as a result of employing 3D hydrodynamical simulations to model the inhomogeneous structure of the solar photosphere.
The very low oxygen abundance advocated by Asplund et al. 2004, A(O)=8.66, together with the downward revision of the abundances of other key elements, has created serious problems for solar models to explain the helioseismic measurements.
In an effort to contribute to the dispute of whether the Sun has "solar" or "sub-solar" abundances, we have re-derived its photospheric abundance of oxygen, nitrogen, and other elements, independently of previous analyses.
We applied a state-of-the art 3D (CO5BOLD) hydrodynamical simulation of the solar granulation as well as different 1D model atmospheres for the line by line spectroscopic abundance determinations. The analysis is based on both standard disk-center and full-disk spectral atlases; for oxygen we acquired in addition spectra at different heliocentric angles. The derived abundances are the result of equivalent width and/or line profile fitting of the available atomic lines. Our recommended oxygen abundance is A(O)=8.76+- 0.07, 0.1 dex higher than the value of Asplund et al. (2004). Our current estimate of the overall solar metallicity is 0.014< Z<0.016.
Questions we discuss include: (i) Is the general downward revision of the solar abundances a 3D effect? (ii) How large are the abundance corrections due to horizontal inhomogeneities? (iii) What is the main reason for the differences between the abundances obtained in our study and those derived by Apslund and coworkers? (iv) How large are the uncertainties in the observed solar spectra? (v) What is the reason why the two forbidden oxygen lines, [OI] lambda 630 nm and [OI] lambda 636.3 nm, give significantly different answers for the solar oxygen abundance?

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

The Solar Photospheric Oxygen Abundance and the Role of 3D Model Atmospheres does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with The Solar Photospheric Oxygen Abundance and the Role of 3D Model Atmospheres, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The Solar Photospheric Oxygen Abundance and the Role of 3D Model Atmospheres will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1795603

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.