Vol. 573
In section 9. The Sun

The elemental composition of the Sun I. The intermediate mass elements Na to Ca

by P. Scott, N. Grevesse, M. Asplund, et al. A&A 573, A25


The elemental composition of the Sun II. The iron group elements Sc to Ni

by P. Scott, M. Asplund, N. Grevesse, M. Bergemann, and A. J. Sauval A&A 573, A26


The elemental composition of the Sun. III. The heavy elements Cu to Th

by N. Grevesse, P. Scott, M. Asplund, and A. J. Sauval A&A 573, A27


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The chemical composition of the Sun is an essential piece of reference data for astronomy, cosmology, astroparticle physics, space physics, and geophysics: elemental abundances of essentially all astronomical objects refer to the solar composition, and basically every process involving the Sun depends on its composition. In this set of three papers, the authors present a comprehensive redetermination of the solar composition for the intermediate-mass elements (Na to Ca) in Paper I, all the iron group nuclei (Sc to Ni) in Paper II, and the heavy elements (from Cu to Th) in Paper III. In these papers the authors present the most accurate, homogeneous, and reliable results possible by employing a highly realistic 3D hydrodynamic model of the solar photosphere, which has successfully passed an arsenal of observational tests. They also carefully assess each transition probability, partition function, isotopic and hyperfine-splitting constant, and the observed spectrum of every line, making certain to only employ the best possible input data. This analysis provides a complete description and update of the results presented in Asplund, Grevesse, Sauval, & Scott (2009, ARA&A), including full details of all the lines and input data used.