2008/03/31 by R. Centeno, H. Socas-Navarro · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/590405
Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 12 pages, 3 figures, referee format. This is the replacement of a previous version of the paper. Our revised analysis takes into consideration the formation of molecules, resulting in a substantially larger value for the derived Oxygen abundance
arxiv created 2008/05/28 · openalex publication_date 2008/07/03 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
In this work we present new data that sets strong constraints on the solar oxygen abundance. Our approach, based on the analysis of spectropolarimetric observations, is almost model-independent and therefore extremely robust. The asymmetry of the Stokes V profile of the 6300 Å [O I] and Ni I blend is used as an indicator of the relative abundances of these two elements. The peculiar shape of the profile requires a value of O = 730 ± 100 ppm (parts per million), or log O = 8.86 ± 0.07 in the logarithmic scale commonly used in astrophysics. The uncertainty range includes the model dependence as well as uncertainties in the oscillator strengths of the lines. We emphasize that the very low degree of model dependence in our analysis makes it very reliable compared to traditional determinations.