On the Galactic chemical evolution of sulphur. Sulphur abundances from the [S i] 1082 nm line in giants

Abstract

Context. The Galactic chemical evolution of sulphur is still under debate. At low metallicities some studies find no correlation between [S/Fe] and [Fe/H], others find [S/Fe] increasing towards lower metallicities, and still others find a combination of the two. Each scenario has different implications for the Galactic chemical evolution of sulphur. Aims. To contribute to the discussion on the Galactic chemical evolution of sulphur by deriving sulphur abundances from non-LTE insensitive spectral diagnostics in Disk and Halo stars with homogeneously determined stellar parameters. Methods. We derive Teff from photometric colours, logg from stellar isochrones and Bayesian estimation, and [Fe/H] and [S/Fe] from spectrum synthesis. We derive [S/Fe] from the [S i] 1082 nm line in 39 mostly cool and metal-poor giants, using 1D LTE MARCS model atmospheres to model our high-resolution NIR spectra obtained with the VLT, NOT and Gemini South telescopes. Results. We derive homogeneous stellar parameters for 29 stars. Our results argue for a chemical evolution of sulphur that is typical for alpha-elements, contrary to some previous studies. Our abundances are systematically higher by about 0.1 dex in comparison to other studies that arrived at similar conclusions using other sulphur diagnostics. Conclusions. We find the [S i] line to be a valuable diagnostic of sulphur abundances in cool giants down to [Fe/H] ~ -2.3. We argue that a homogeneous determination of stellar parameters is necessary, since the derived abundances are sensitive to them. Our results ([S/Fe]) show reasonable agreement with predictions of contemporary models of Galactic chemical evolution. In these models sulphur is predominantly created in massive stars by oxygen burning, and ejected in the ISM during Type II SNe explosions. Systematic differences with previous studies likely fall within modelling uncertainties.