Letter to the Editor

The solar photospheric abundance of phosphorus: results from CO⁵BOLD 3D model atmospheres ^*

¹ GEPI, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Place Jules Janssen, 92190 Meudon, France e-mail: Elisabetta.Caffau@obspm.fr
² Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam, An der Sternwarte 16, 14482 Potsdam, Germany
³ CIFIST Marie Curie Excellence Team
⁴ Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste, via Tiepolo 11, 34143 Trieste, Italy

Received: 27 July 2007
Accepted: 11 August 2007

Abstract

Aims.We determine the solar abundance of phosphorus using CO⁵BOLD 3D hydrodynamic model atmospheres.

Methods.High-resolution, high signal-to-noise solar spectra of the P i lines of Multiplet 1 at 1051–1068 nm are compared to line-formation computations performed on a CO⁵BOLD solar model atmosphere.

Results.We find A(P) = 5.46 ± 0.04, in good agreement with previous analyses based on 1D model atmospheres, due to the P i lines of Mult. 1 not being affected much by 3D effects. We cannot confirm an earlier claim by other authors of a downward revision of the solar P abundance by 0.1 dex when employing a 3D model atmosphere. Concerning other stars, we find modest (<0.1 dex) 3D abundance corrections for P among four F-dwarf model atmospheres of different metallicities, and these corrections are largest at lowest metallicity.

Conclusions.We conclude that 3D abundance corrections are generally rather small for the P i lines studied in this work. They are marginally relevant for metal-poor stars, but may be neglected in the Sun.