Issue |
A&A
Volume 538, February 2012
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | A29 | |
Number of page(s) | 13 | |
Section | Stellar atmospheres | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201118039 | |
Published online | 30 January 2012 |
Observational effects of magnetism in O stars: surface nitrogen abundances⋆,⋆⋆
1
LUPM – UMR 5299, CNRS & Université Montpellier II,
Place Eugène Bataillon,
34095
Montpellier Cedex 05,
France
e-mail: fabrice.martins@univ-montp2.fr
2
Dept. of Physics, Royal Military College of Canada, PO Box 17000,
Stn Forces, Kingston, Ontario
K7K 7B4,
Canada
3
IRAP – UMR 5277, CNRS & Université Paul
Sabatier, 16 Avenue Edouard
Belin, 31400
Toulouse,
France
4
LAM – UMR 6110, CNRS & Université de
Provence, rue Frédéric
Joliot-Curie, 13388
Marseille Cedex 13,
France
5
NASA/GSFC, Code 665, Greenbelt, MD
20771,
USA
Received: 7 September 2011
Accepted: 9 December 2011
Aims. We investigate the surface nitrogen content of the six magnetic O stars known to date as well as of the early B-type star τ Sco. We compare these abundances to predictions of evolutionary models to isolate the effects of magnetic field on the transport of elements in stellar interiors.
Methods. We conduct a quantitative spectroscopic analysis of the sample stars with state-of-the-art atmosphere models. We rely on high signal-to-noise ratio, high resolution optical spectra obtained with ESPADONS at CFHT and NARVAL at TBL. Atmosphere models and synthetic spectra are computed with the code CMFGEN. Values of N/H together with their uncertainties are determined and compared to predictions of evolutionary models.
Results. We find that the magnetic stars can be divided into two groups: one with stars displaying no N enrichment (one object); and one with stars most likely showing extra N enrichment (5 objects). For one star (Θ1 Ori C) no robust conclusion can be drawn due to its young age. The star with no N enrichment is the one with the weakest magnetic field, possibly of dynamo origin. It might be a star having experienced strong magnetic braking under the condition of solid body rotation, but its rotational velocity is still relatively large. The five stars with high N content were probably slow rotators on the zero age main sequence, but they have surface N/H typical of normal O stars, indicating that the presence of a (probably fossil) magnetic field leads to extra enrichment. These stars may have a strong differential rotation inducing shear mixing. Our results should be viewed as a basis on which new theoretical simulations can rely to better understand the effect of magnetism on the evolution of massive stars.
Key words: stars: massive / stars: atmospheres / stars: fundamental parameters / stars: abundances / stars: magnetic field
Appendix A is available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org
© ESO, 2012
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