Start year
1986
Organizational Unit
Organizing institutions
Grants related:
General
Description
Low- to intermediate-mass (M < 8 solar masses, Ms) stars represent the majority of stars in the Cosmos. They finish their lives on the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) - just before they form planetary nebulae (PNe) - where they experience complex nucleosynthetic and molecular processes. AGB stars are important contributors to the enrichment of the interstellar medium where new stars/planets are born (including our own Early Solar System, ESS), and to the chemical evolution of stellar systems like globular clusters (GCs) and galaxies. In particular, the more massive (M > 4-5 Ms) AGB stars synthesize very different (radio)isotopes from those formed by lower mass AGB stars and Supernova detonations, as a consequence of different nucleosynthesis mechanisms. Evolved stars in the transition phase between AGB stars and PNe also form diverse organic compounds like PAHs, and fullerene and graphene molecular nanostructures, being a wonderful laboratory for Astrochemistry. On-going massive surveys like SDSS-IV/APOGEE-2 and the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) represent a fundamental step forward to understand the nucleosynthesis and molecular processes in evolved stars. We aim to explore the nucleosynthesis of light and heavy (radio)isotopes in AGB stars and how they contribute to the ESS radioactive inventory as well as to the formation and evolution of GCs and galaxies. We also aim at understanding the top-down formation process of fullerene and graphene molecular nanostructures in evolved stars. Finally, it is intended to perform data mining with the Gaia satellite, in order to study the AGB- PNe evolutionary phase. In addition we aim to use the GALEX database to discover binary central stars in Galactic PNe.
Members
Principal investigator
Domingo Aníbal
García Hernández
Project staff
Arturo
Manchado Torres
Thomas
Masseron
Olga María
Zamora Sánchez
LUCIO
CRIVELLARI
Collaborators
Dr.
P. García Lario
Dr.
G. García Segura
Dr.
L. Stanghellini
Dr.
E. Villaver
Carlos
Allende Prieto
Jorge
García Rojas
Dr.
B. Plez
Dr.
A. Karakas
Dr.
M. Lugaro
Dr.
D. Lambert
Dr.
P. Ventura
Dr.
F. Cataldo
Dr.
Andres Yague
Dr.
Sun Kwok
Dr.
R. Szczerba
Dr.
J.M. Trigo Rodríguez
Dr.
K. Rao
S. Sadjadi
M. Manteiga
C. Dafonte
R. Santoveña
L. Bianchi
Sz. Mészáros
S. Cristallo
L. Piersanti
Results
1. During 2020, we have published 37 papers in high-impact international refereed astronomical journals (including one invited review) and 2 papers in the Chemistry -Physics journal FNCN.
2. Phosphorus-rich stars with an extremely peculiar chemical abundance pattern have been discovered for the first time, challenging the theoretical nucleosynthesis predictions.
3. It was demonstrated that the P-rich star progenitors represent a new site for s-process nucleosynthesis, with important implications for the chemical evolution of our Galaxy.
Scientific activity
Related publications
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The TESS-Keck Survey. XI. Mass Measurements for Four Transiting Sub-Neptunes Orbiting K Dwarf TOI-1246Multiplanet systems are valuable arenas for investigating exoplanet architectures and comparing planetary siblings. TOI-1246 is one such system, with a moderately bright K dwarf (V = 11.6, K = 9.9) and four transiting sub-Neptunes identified by TESS with orbital periods of 4.31, 5.90, 18.66, and 37.92 days. We collected 130 radial velocityTurtelboom, Emma V. et al.
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62022 -
Estimation of Nitrogen-to-Iron Abundance Ratios from Low-Resolution SpectraWe present a method to determine nitrogen abundance ratios with respect to iron ([N/Fe]) from molecular CN-band features observed in low-resolution (R ∼ 2000) stellar spectra obtained by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST). Various tests are carried out to check theKim, Changmin et al.
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42022 -
The Open Cluster Chemical Abundances and Mapping Survey. VII. APOGEE DR17 [C/N]-Age CalibrationLarge-scale surveys open the possibility to investigate Galactic evolution both chemically and kinematically; however, reliable stellar ages remain a major challenge. Detailed chemical information provided by high-resolution spectroscopic surveys of the stars in clusters can be used as a means to calibrate recently developed chemical tools for ageSpoo, Taylor et al.
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52022 -
Carbon Abundances in Compact Galactic Planetary Nebulae: An Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Study with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS)We surveyed a sample of compact Galactic planetary nebulae (PNe) with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to determine their gas-phase carbon abundances. Carbon abundances in PNe constrain the nature of their asymptotic giant branch (AGB) progenitors, as well as cosmic recycling. We measured the carbonStanghellini, Letizia et al.
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42022 -
Survey of Surveys. I. The largest compilation of radial velocities for the GalaxyContext. In the present-day panorama of large spectroscopic surveys, the amount, diversity, and complexity of the available data continuously increase. The overarching goal of studying the formation and evolution of our Galaxy is hampered by the heterogeneity of instruments, selection functions, analysis methods, and measured quantities. Aims: WeTsantaki, M. et al.
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32022 -
The Seventeenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys: Complete Release of MaNGA, MaStar, and APOGEE-2 DataThis paper documents the seventeenth data release (DR17) from the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys; the fifth and final release from the fourth phase (SDSS-IV). DR17 contains the complete release of the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey, which reached its goal of surveying over 10,000 nearby galaxies. The complete releaseAbdurro'uf et al.
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42022 -
Quantifying radial migration in the Milky Way: inefficient over short time-scales but essential to the very outer disc beyond 15 kpcStellar radial migration plays an important role in reshaping a galaxy's structure and the radial distribution of stellar population properties. In this work, we revisit reported observational evidence for radial migration and quantify its strength using the age-[Fe/H] distribution of stars across the Milky Way with APOGEE data. We find a brokenLian, Jianhui et al.
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42022 -
Detailed Chemical Abundances for a Benchmark Sample of M Dwarfs from the APOGEE SurveyIndividual chemical abundances for 14 elements (C, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, and Ni) are derived for a sample of M dwarfs using high-resolution, near-infrared H-band spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-IV/Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) survey. The quantitative analysis included syntheticSouto, Diogo et al.
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32022 -
Exploring the S-process History in the Galactic Disk: Cerium Abundances and Gradients in Open Clusters from the OCCAM/APOGEE SampleThe APOGEE Open Cluster Chemical Abundances and Mapping survey is used to probe the chemical evolution of the s-process element cerium in the Galactic disk. Cerium abundances were derived from measurements of Ce II lines in the APOGEE spectra using the Brussels Automatic Code for Characterizing High Accuracy Spectra in 218 stars belonging to 42Sales-Silva, J. V. et al.
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22022 -
The Influence of 10 Unique Chemical Elements in Shaping the Distribution of Kepler PlanetsThe chemical abundances of planet-hosting stars offer a glimpse into the composition of planet-forming environments. To further understand this connection, we make the first ever measurement of the correlation between planet occurrence and chemical abundances for ten different elements (C, Mg, Al, Si, S, K, Ca, Mn, Fe, and Ni). Leveraging data fromWilson, Robert F. et al.
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32022 -
Estimating fundamental parameters of nearby M dwarfs from SPIRou spectraWe present the results of a study aiming at retrieving the fundamental parameters of M dwarfs from spectra secured with SPIRou, the near-infrared high-resolution spectropolarimeter installed at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), in the framework of the SPIRou Legacy Survey (SLS). Our study relies on comparing observed spectra with two gridsCristofari, P. I. et al.
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42022 -
APOGEE detection of N-rich stars in the tidal tails of Palomar 5Recent results from chemical tagging studies using Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment data suggest a strong link between the chemical abundance patterns of stars found within globular clusters (GC), and chemically peculiar populations in the Galactic halo field. In this paper, we analyse the chemical compositions of stars withinPhillips, Siân G. et al.
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32022 -
First models of the s process in AGB stars of solar metallicity for the stellar evolutionary code ATON with a novel stable explicit numerical solverAims: We describe the first s-process post-processing models for asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars of masses 3, 4, and 5 M ⊙ at solar metallicity (Z = 0.018) computed using the input from the stellar evolutionary code ATON. Methods: The models are computed with the new code SNUPPAT (S-process NUcleosynthesis Post-Processing code for ATON), whichYagüe López, A. et al.
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12022 -
The Milky Way bar and bulge revealed by APOGEE and Gaia EDR3We investigate the inner regions of the Milky Way using data from APOGEE and Gaia EDR3. Our inner Galactic sample has more than 26 500 stars within |X Gal|< 5 kpc, |Y Gal|< 3.5 kpc, |Z Gal|< 1 kpc, and we also carry out the analysis for a foreground-cleaned subsample of 8000 stars that is more representative of the bulge-bar populations. TheseQueiroz, A. B. A. et al.
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122021 -
Planetary nebulae in Gaia EDR3: Central star identification, properties, and binarityContext. The Gaia Early Data Release 3 (EDR3), published in December 2020, features improved photometry and astrometry compared to that published in the previous DR2 file and includes a substantially larger number of sources, of the order of 2000 million, making it a paradigm of big data astronomy. Many of the central stars of planetary nebulaeGonzález-Santamaría, I. et al.
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122021 -
Final Targeting Strategy for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 North SurveyThe Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 (APOGEE-2) is a dual-hemisphere, near-infrared (NIR), spectroscopic survey with the goal of producing a chemodynamical mapping of the Milky Way. The targeting for APOGEE-2 is complex and has evolved with time. In this paper, we present the updates and additions to the initial targetingBeaton, Rachael L. et al.
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122021 -
Ammonia-methane ratios from H-band near-infrared spectra of late-T and Y dwarfsAims: Our goals are to investigate the relative absorption strengths of ammonia and methane using low-resolution H-band (1.5−1.7 microns) spectra obtained in the laboratory and compared with observational spectra of late-T and Y dwarfs, and to estimate what can be expected from the wide-angle low-resolution near-infrared spectroscopic survey thatMartín, E. L. et al.
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112021 -
AGB Stars and Their Circumstellar Envelopes: An Operative Approach to Computing Their AtmospheresThe study of AGB stars necessarily covers a wide range of topics, from the primary astronomical observations to their interpretation in terms of fundamental physics. All that requires proper ad hoc methodologies, among which numerical modeling of the outer layers of AGB stars plays a paramount role. In this paper, we present an iterative sequentialCristallo, Sergio et al.
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92021 -
AGB Stars and Their Circumstellar Envelopes. I. the VULCAN CodeThe interplay between AGB interiors and their outermost layers, where molecules and dust form, is a problem of high complexity. As a consequence, physical processes like mass loss, which depend on the chemistry of the circumstellar envelope, are often oversimplified. The best candidates to drive mass-loss in AGB stars are dust grains, which trapNanni, Ambra et al.
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32021 -
Vinylacetylene synthesis with a low power submerged carbon arc in n-hexaneCataldo, Franco et al.
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122021
