Spectacular Nucleosynthesis from Early Massive Stars
Stars that formed with an initial mass of over 50 M _⊙ are very rare today, but they are thought to be more common in the early Universe. The fates of those early, metal-poor, massive stars are highly uncertain. Most are expected to directly collapse to black holes, while some may explode as a resul...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2024-01-01
|
| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad19c4 |
| _version_ | 1827368147322142720 |
|---|---|
| author | Alexander P. Ji Sanjana Curtis Nicholas Storm Vedant Chandra Kevin C. Schlaufman Keivan G. Stassun Alexander Heger Marco Pignatari Adrian M. Price-Whelan Maria Bergemann Guy S. Stringfellow Carla Fröhlich Henrique Reggiani Erika M. Holmbeck Jamie Tayar Shivani P. Shah Emily J. Griffith Chervin F. P. Laporte Andrew R. Casey Keith Hawkins Danny Horta William Cerny Pierre Thibodeaux Sam A. Usman João A. S. Amarante Rachael L. Beaton Phillip A. Cargile Cristina Chiappini Charlie Conroy Jennifer A. Johnson Juna A. Kollmeier Haining Li Sarah Loebman Georges Meynet Dmitry Bizyaev Joel R. Brownstein Pramod Gupta Sean Morrison Kaike Pan Solange V. Ramirez Hans-Walter Rix José Sánchez-Gallego |
| author_facet | Alexander P. Ji Sanjana Curtis Nicholas Storm Vedant Chandra Kevin C. Schlaufman Keivan G. Stassun Alexander Heger Marco Pignatari Adrian M. Price-Whelan Maria Bergemann Guy S. Stringfellow Carla Fröhlich Henrique Reggiani Erika M. Holmbeck Jamie Tayar Shivani P. Shah Emily J. Griffith Chervin F. P. Laporte Andrew R. Casey Keith Hawkins Danny Horta William Cerny Pierre Thibodeaux Sam A. Usman João A. S. Amarante Rachael L. Beaton Phillip A. Cargile Cristina Chiappini Charlie Conroy Jennifer A. Johnson Juna A. Kollmeier Haining Li Sarah Loebman Georges Meynet Dmitry Bizyaev Joel R. Brownstein Pramod Gupta Sean Morrison Kaike Pan Solange V. Ramirez Hans-Walter Rix José Sánchez-Gallego |
| author_sort | Alexander P. Ji |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Stars that formed with an initial mass of over 50 M _⊙ are very rare today, but they are thought to be more common in the early Universe. The fates of those early, metal-poor, massive stars are highly uncertain. Most are expected to directly collapse to black holes, while some may explode as a result of rotationally powered engines or the pair-creation instability. We present the chemical abundances of J0931+0038, a nearby low-mass star identified in early follow-up of the SDSS-V Milky Way Mapper, which preserves the signature of unusual nucleosynthesis from a massive star in the early Universe. J0931+0038 has a relatively high metallicity ([Fe/H] = −1.76 ± 0.13) but an extreme odd–even abundance pattern, with some of the lowest known abundance ratios of [N/Fe], [Na/Fe], [K/Fe], [Sc/Fe], and [Ba/Fe]. The implication is that a majority of its metals originated in a single extremely metal-poor nucleosynthetic source. An extensive search through nucleosynthesis predictions finds a clear preference for progenitors with initial mass >50 M _⊙ , making J0931+0038 one of the first observational constraints on nucleosynthesis in this mass range. However, the full abundance pattern is not matched by any models in the literature. J0931+0038 thus presents a challenge for the next generation of nucleosynthesis models and motivates the study of high-mass progenitor stars impacted by convection, rotation, jets, and/or binary companions. Though rare, more examples of unusual early nucleosynthesis in metal-poor stars should be found in upcoming large spectroscopic surveys. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T09:26:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cb019f1a53ca4e8bbf8ef53fff9533f7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-8205 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T09:26:22Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-cb019f1a53ca4e8bbf8ef53fff9533f72024-01-31T08:57:37ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal Letters2041-82052024-01-019612L4110.3847/2041-8213/ad19c4Spectacular Nucleosynthesis from Early Massive StarsAlexander P. Ji0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4863-8842Sanjana Curtis1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3211-303XNicholas Storm2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5259-3974Vedant Chandra3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0572-8012Kevin C. Schlaufman4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5761-6779Keivan G. Stassun5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3481-9052Alexander Heger6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3684-1325Marco Pignatari7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9048-6010Adrian M. Price-Whelan8https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0872-7098Maria Bergemann9https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9908-5571Guy S. Stringfellow10https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1479-3059Carla Fröhlich11https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0191-2477Henrique Reggiani12https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6533-6179Erika M. Holmbeck13https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5463-6800Jamie Tayar14https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4818-7885Shivani P. Shah15https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3367-2394Emily J. Griffith16https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9345-9977Chervin F. P. Laporte17https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3922-7336Andrew R. Casey18https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0174-0564Keith Hawkins19https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1423-2174Danny Horta20https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1856-2151William Cerny21https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1697-7062Pierre Thibodeaux22https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3867-3927Sam A. Usman23https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0918-7185João A. S. Amarante24https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7662-5475Rachael L. Beaton25https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1691-8217Phillip A. Cargile26https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1617-8917Cristina Chiappini27https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1269-7282Charlie Conroy28https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1590-8551Jennifer A. Johnson29https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7258-1834Juna A. Kollmeier30https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9852-1610Haining Li31https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0389-9264Sarah Loebman32https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3217-5967Georges Meynet33https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6181-1323Dmitry Bizyaev34https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3601-133XJoel R. Brownstein35https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8725-1069Pramod Gupta36https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3956-2102Sean Morrison37https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6770-2627Kaike Pan38https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2835-2556Solange V. Ramirez39Hans-Walter Rix40https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4996-9069José Sánchez-Gallego41https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2486-3858Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Chicago , 5640 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, USA ; alexji@uchicago.edu; Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago , Chicago, IL 60637, USA; Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics—Center for Evolution of the Elements (JINA) , East Lansing, MI 48824, USADepartment of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Chicago , 5640 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, USA ; alexji@uchicago.edu; Department of Astronomy, University of California , Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USAMax Planck Institute for Astronomy , Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, GermanyCenter for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USAJohns Hopkins University William H. Miller III Department of Physics & Astronomy , 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Tuve Fellow, Carnegie Institution for Science Earth & Planets Laboratory , 5241 Broad Branch Road NW, Washington, DC 20015, USADepartment of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University , Nashville, TN 37235, USAJoint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics—Center for Evolution of the Elements (JINA) , East Lansing, MI 48824, USA; School of Physics and Astronomy, Monash University , Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia; Center of Excellence for Astrophysics in Three Dimensions (ASTRO-3D) , Stromlo, ACT 2611, AustraliaKonkoly Observatory, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences , Eötvös Loránd Research Network (ELKH), Konkoly Thege Miklós út 15-17, H-1121 Budapest, Hungary; CSFK, MTA Centre of Excellence , Budapest, Konkoly Thege Miklós út 15-17, H-1121, Hungary; E. A. Milne Centre for Astrophysics, University of Hull , Hull HU6 7RX, UKCenter for Computational Astrophysics , Flatiron Institute, 162 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USAMax Planck Institute for Astronomy , Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, GermanyCenter for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy, University of Colorado , 389 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0389, USAJoint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics—Center for Evolution of the Elements (JINA) , East Lansing, MI 48824, USA; Department of Physics, North Carolina State University , Raleigh, NC 27695, USAThe Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science , 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101, USAThe Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science , 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101, USADepartment of Astronomy, University of Florida , Bryant Space Science Center, Stadium Road, Gainesville, FL 32611, USADepartment of Astronomy, University of Florida , Bryant Space Science Center, Stadium Road, Gainesville, FL 32611, USACenter for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy, University of Colorado , 389 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0389, USAInstitut de Ciències del Cosmos (ICCUB), Universitat de Barcelona , Martí i Franquès 1, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain; Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC) , E-08034 Barcelona, SpainSchool of Physics & Astronomy, Monash University , Wellington Road, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) , Canberra, ACT 2611, AustraliaDepartment of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , 2515 Speedway Boulevard, Austin, TX 78712, USACenter for Computational Astrophysics , Flatiron Institute, 162 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USADepartment of Astronomy, Yale University , New Haven, CT 06520, USADepartment of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Chicago , 5640 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, USA ; alexji@uchicago.eduDepartment of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Chicago , 5640 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, USA ; alexji@uchicago.eduInstitut de Ciencies del Cosmos (ICCUB), Universitat de Barcelona (IEEC-UB) , Martí i Franquès 1, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain; Jeremiah Horrocks Institute, University of Central Lancashire , Preston, PR1 2HE, UKSpace Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USACenter for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USALeibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP) , An der Sternwarte 16, D-14482 Potsdam, GermanyCenter for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USADepartment of Astronomy, The Ohio State University , 140 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics, Ohio State University , 191 West Woodruff Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USAThe Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science , 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101, USA; Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto , Toronto, ON, M5S-98H, CanadaKey Lab of Optical Astronomy, National Astronomical Observatories , Chinese Academy of Sciences, A20 Datun Road, Chaoyang, Beijing 100012, People's Republic of ChinaDepartment of Physics, University of California , Merced, 5200 North Lake Road, Merced, CA 95343, USADepartment of Astronomy of Geneva University , SwitzerlandApache Point Observatory and New Mexico State University , P.O. Box 59, Sunspot, NM 88349-0059, USA; Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow State University , MoscowDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah , 115 S. 1400 E., Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USADepartment of Astronomy, University of Washington , Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195, USADepartment of Astronomy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Urbana, IL 61801, USAApache Point Observatory and New Mexico State University , P.O. Box 59, Sunspot, NM 88349-0059, USAThe Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science , 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101, USAMax Planck Institute for Astronomy , Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, GermanyDepartment of Astronomy, University of Washington , Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195, USAStars that formed with an initial mass of over 50 M _⊙ are very rare today, but they are thought to be more common in the early Universe. The fates of those early, metal-poor, massive stars are highly uncertain. Most are expected to directly collapse to black holes, while some may explode as a result of rotationally powered engines or the pair-creation instability. We present the chemical abundances of J0931+0038, a nearby low-mass star identified in early follow-up of the SDSS-V Milky Way Mapper, which preserves the signature of unusual nucleosynthesis from a massive star in the early Universe. J0931+0038 has a relatively high metallicity ([Fe/H] = −1.76 ± 0.13) but an extreme odd–even abundance pattern, with some of the lowest known abundance ratios of [N/Fe], [Na/Fe], [K/Fe], [Sc/Fe], and [Ba/Fe]. The implication is that a majority of its metals originated in a single extremely metal-poor nucleosynthetic source. An extensive search through nucleosynthesis predictions finds a clear preference for progenitors with initial mass >50 M _⊙ , making J0931+0038 one of the first observational constraints on nucleosynthesis in this mass range. However, the full abundance pattern is not matched by any models in the literature. J0931+0038 thus presents a challenge for the next generation of nucleosynthesis models and motivates the study of high-mass progenitor stars impacted by convection, rotation, jets, and/or binary companions. Though rare, more examples of unusual early nucleosynthesis in metal-poor stars should be found in upcoming large spectroscopic surveys.https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad19c4Core-collapse supernovaeNucleosynthesisNuclear astrophysicsPopulation II starsPopulation III starsGalactic archaeology |
| spellingShingle | Alexander P. Ji Sanjana Curtis Nicholas Storm Vedant Chandra Kevin C. Schlaufman Keivan G. Stassun Alexander Heger Marco Pignatari Adrian M. Price-Whelan Maria Bergemann Guy S. Stringfellow Carla Fröhlich Henrique Reggiani Erika M. Holmbeck Jamie Tayar Shivani P. Shah Emily J. Griffith Chervin F. P. Laporte Andrew R. Casey Keith Hawkins Danny Horta William Cerny Pierre Thibodeaux Sam A. Usman João A. S. Amarante Rachael L. Beaton Phillip A. Cargile Cristina Chiappini Charlie Conroy Jennifer A. Johnson Juna A. Kollmeier Haining Li Sarah Loebman Georges Meynet Dmitry Bizyaev Joel R. Brownstein Pramod Gupta Sean Morrison Kaike Pan Solange V. Ramirez Hans-Walter Rix José Sánchez-Gallego Spectacular Nucleosynthesis from Early Massive Stars The Astrophysical Journal Letters Core-collapse supernovae Nucleosynthesis Nuclear astrophysics Population II stars Population III stars Galactic archaeology |
| title | Spectacular Nucleosynthesis from Early Massive Stars |
| title_full | Spectacular Nucleosynthesis from Early Massive Stars |
| title_fullStr | Spectacular Nucleosynthesis from Early Massive Stars |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spectacular Nucleosynthesis from Early Massive Stars |
| title_short | Spectacular Nucleosynthesis from Early Massive Stars |
| title_sort | spectacular nucleosynthesis from early massive stars |
| topic | Core-collapse supernovae Nucleosynthesis Nuclear astrophysics Population II stars Population III stars Galactic archaeology |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad19c4 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT alexanderpji spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT sanjanacurtis spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT nicholasstorm spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT vedantchandra spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT kevincschlaufman spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT keivangstassun spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT alexanderheger spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT marcopignatari spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT adrianmpricewhelan spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT mariabergemann spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT guysstringfellow spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT carlafrohlich spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT henriquereggiani spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT erikamholmbeck spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT jamietayar spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT shivanipshah spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT emilyjgriffith spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT chervinfplaporte spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT andrewrcasey spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT keithhawkins spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT dannyhorta spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT williamcerny spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT pierrethibodeaux spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT samausman spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT joaoasamarante spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT rachaellbeaton spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT phillipacargile spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT cristinachiappini spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT charlieconroy spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT jenniferajohnson spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT junaakollmeier spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT hainingli spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT sarahloebman spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT georgesmeynet spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT dmitrybizyaev spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT joelrbrownstein spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT pramodgupta spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT seanmorrison spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT kaikepan spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT solangevramirez spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT hanswalterrix spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars AT josesanchezgallego spectacularnucleosynthesisfromearlymassivestars |