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We report the spectroscopic analysis of 20 halo ab-type RR Lyrae stars with heliocentric distances between 15 and 165 kpc, conducted using medium-resolution spectra from the Magellan Inamori Kyocera Echelle (MIKE) spectrograph. We obtain the systemic line-of-sight velocities of our targets with typical uncertainties of 5–10 km s−1 and compute orbital parameters for a subsample out to 50 kpc from the Galactic centre, including proper motion data from Gaia DR3. The orientation of our stars' orbits, determined for an isolated Milky Way and for a model perturbed by the Large Magellanic Cloud, appears to suggest an accreted origin for at least half of the sample. In addition, we derive atmospheric parameters and chemical abundance ratios for seven stars beyond 20 kpc. The derived α-abundances of five of these stars follow a Milky Way halo-like trend, while the other two display an underabundance of α-elements for their [Fe/H], indicating an association with accretion events. Furthermore, based on the [Sr/Ba] ratio, we can speculate about the conditions for the formation of a potential chemically peculiar carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) RR Lyrae star. By analysing the stars' orbital parameters and abundance ratios, we find hints of association of two of our stars with two massive satellites, namely the Large Magellanic Cloud and Sagittarius. Overall, our results are in line with the suggestion that the accretion of sub-haloes largely contributes to the outer halo stellar populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. Atomic diffusion and mixing processes in stellar interiors influence the structure and the surface composition of stars. Some of these processes cannot yet be modelled from the first principles, and they require calibrations. This limits their applicability in stellar models used for studies of stellar populations and Galactic evolution. Aims. Our main goal is to put constraints on the stellar structure and evolution models using new refined measurements of the chemical composition in stars of a Galactic open cluster. Methods. We used medium-resolution, 19 200 ≤ R ≤ 21 500, optical spectra of stars in the open cluster NGC 2420 obtained within the Gaia-ESO survey. The sample covers all evolutionary stages from the main sequence to the red giant branch. Stellar parameters were derived using a combined Bayesian analysis of spectra, 2MASS photometry, and astrometric data from Gaia DR2. The abundances of Mg, Ca, Fe, and Li were determined from non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) synthetic spectra, which were computed using one-dimensional (1D) and averaged three-dimensional (3D) model atmospheres. We compare our results with a grid of Code d'Evolution Stellaire Adaptatif et Modulaire (CESTAM) stellar evolution models, which include atomic diffusion, turbulent, and rotational mixing. Results. We find prominent evolutionary trends in the abundances of Fe, Ca, Mg, and Li with the mass of the stars in the cluster. Furthermore, Fe, Mg, and Ca show a depletion at the cluster turn-off, but the abundances gradually increase and flatten near the base of the red giant branch. The abundance trend for Li displays a signature of rotational mixing on the main sequence and abrupt depletion on the sub-giant branch, which is caused by advection of Li-poor material to the surface. The analysis of abundances combined with the CESTAM model predictions allows us to place limits on the parameter space of the models and to constrain the zone in the stellar interior, where turbulent mixing takes place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal-poor stars with detailed information available about their chemical inventory pose powerful empirical benchmarks for nuclear astrophysics. Here we present our spectroscopic chemical abundance investigation of the metal-poor ([Fe=H] = -1:60 ± 0:03 dex), r-process-enriched ([Eu=Fe] = 0:73 ± 0:10 dex) halo star HD 20, using novel and archival high-resolution data at outstanding signalto- noise ratios (up to ~1000Å-1). By combining one of the first asteroseismic gravity measurements in the metal-poor regime from a TESS light curve with the spectroscopic analysis of iron lines under non-local thermodynamic equilibrium conditions, we derived a set of highly accurate and precise stellar parameters. These allowed us to delineate a reliable chemical pattern that is comprised of solid detections of 48 elements, including 28 neutron-capture elements. Hence, we establish HD 20 among the few benchmark stars that have nearly complete patterns and low systematic dependencies on the stellar parameters. Our light-element (Z ≤ 30) abundances are representative of other, similarly metal-poor stars in the Galactic halo that exhibit contributions from core-collapse supernovae of type II. In the realm of the neutron-capture elements, our comparison to the scaled solar r-pattern shows that the lighter neutron-capture elements (Z . 60) are poorly matched. In particular, we find imprints of the weak r-process acting at low metallicities. Nonetheless, by comparing our detailed abundances to the observed metal-poor star BD +17 3248, we find a persistent residual pattern involving mainly the elements Sr, Y, Zr, Ba, and La. These are indicative of enrichment contributions from the s-process and we show that mixing with material from predicted yields of massive, rotating AGB stars at low metallicity improves the fit considerably. Based on a solar ratio of heavy- to light-s elements - which is at odds with model predictions for the i-process - and a missing clear residual pattern with respect to other stars with claimed contributions from this process, we refute (strong) contributions from such astrophysical sites providing intermediate neutron densities. Finally, nuclear cosmochronology is used to tie our detection of the radioactive element Th to an age estimate for HD 20 of 11:0 ± 3:8 Gyr. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manganese (Mn) is a key Fe-group element, commonly employed in stellar population and nucleosynthesis studies to explore the role of SN Ia. We have developed a new non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) model of Mn, including new photo-ionisation cross-sections and new transition rates caused by collisions with H and H− atoms. We applied the model in combination with one-dimensional (1D) LTE model atmospheres and 3D hydrodynamical simulations of stellar convection to quantify the impact of NLTE and convection on the line formation. We show that the effects of NLTE are present in Mn I and, to a lesser degree, in Mn II lines, and these increase with metallicity and with the effective temperature of a model. Employing 3D NLTE radiative transfer, we derive a new abundance of Mn in the Sun, A(Mn) = 5.52 ± 0.03 dex, consistent with the element abundance in C I meteorites. We also applied our methods to the analysis of three metal-poor benchmark stars. We find that 3D NLTE abundances are significantly higher than 1D LTE. For dwarfs, the differences between 1D NLTE and 3D NLTE abundances are typically within 0.15 dex, however, the effects are much larger in the atmospheres of giants owing to their more vigorous convection. We show that 3D NLTE successfully solves the ionisation and excitation balance for the RGB star HD 122563 that cannot be achieved by 1D LTE or 1D NLTE modelling. For HD 84937 and HD 140283, the ionisation balance is satisfied, however, the resonance Mn I triplet lines still show somewhat lower abundances compared to the high-excitation lines. Our results for the benchmark stars confirm that 1D LTE modelling leads to significant systematic biases in Mn abundances across the full wavelength range from the blue to the IR. We also produce a list of Mn lines that are not significantly biased by 3D and can be reliably, within the 0.1 dex uncertainty, modelled in 1D NLTE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapidly increasing number of stellar spectra obtained by existing and future large-scale spectroscopic surveys feeds a demand for fast and efficient tools for the spectroscopic determination of fundamental stellar parameters. Such tools should not only comprise customized solutions for one particular survey or instrument, but, in order to enable cross-survey comparability, they should also be capable of dealing with spectra from a variety of spectrographs, resolutions, and wavelength coverages. To meet these ambitious specifications, we developed ATHOS (A Tool for HOmogenizing Stellar parameters), a fundamentally new analysis tool that adopts easy-to-use, computationally inexpensive analytical relations tying flux ratios (FRs) of designated wavelength regions in optical spectra to the stellar parameters effective temperature (Teff), iron abundance ([Fe/H]), and surface gravity (log g). Our Teff estimator is based on FRs from nine pairs of wavelength ranges around the Balmer lines Hβ and Hα, while for [Fe/H] and log g we provide 31 and 11 FRs, respectively, which are spread between ∼4800 Å and ∼6500 Å; a region covered by most optical surveys. The analytical relations employing these FRs were trained on N = 124 real spectra of a stellar benchmark sample that covers a large parameter space of Teff ≈ 4000–6500 K (spectral types F to K), [Fe/H] ≈ −4.5 to 0.3 dex, and log g ≈ 1–5 dex, which at the same time reflects ATHOS' range of applicability. We find accuracies of 97 K for Teff, 0.16 dex for [Fe/H], and 0.26 dex for log g, which are merely bounded by finite uncertainties in the training sample parameters. ATHOS' internal precisions can be better by up to 70%. We tested ATHOS on six independent large surveys spanning a wide range of resolutions (R = λ/Δ λ ≈ 2000–52 000), amongst which are the Gaia-ESO and the SDSS/SEGUE surveys. The exceptionally low execution time (< 30 ms per spectrum per CPU core) together with a comparison to the literature parameters showed that ATHOS can successfully achieve its main objectives, in other words fast stellar parametrization with cross-survey validity, high accuracy, and high precision. These are key to homogenize the output from future surveys, such as 4MOST or WEAVE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]