arXiv · 0806.0775
Neon and oxygen in low activity stars: towards a coronal unification with the Sun
Abstract
The disagreement between helioseismology and a recent downward revision of solar abundances has resulted in a controversy about the true neon abundance of the Sun and other stars. We investigated XMM-Newton and Chandra high-resolution X-ray spectra of weakly and moderately active stars (log L_x/L_bol = -5...-7) and determined their coronal Ne/O abundance ratio by using two linear combinations of strong emission lines as well as a global-fitting method. The sample stars show a correlation between their Ne/O ratio and stellar activity in the sense that stars with a higher activity level show a higher Ne/O ratio. We find that the Ne/O ratio decreases in our sample from values of Ne/O~0.4 down to Ne/O~0.2, suggesting that ratios similar to 'classical' solar values are rather common for low activity stars. A significantly enhanced neon abundance as the solution to the solar modeling problem seems unlikely. We find no indications of a peculiar position of the Sun among other stars.
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J. Robrade, J. H. M. M. Schmitt, F. Favata. 2008-06-04. Neon and oxygen in low activity stars: towards a coronal unification with the Sun. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:200809690
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