Article contents
Beryllium and boron in metal-poor stars
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 April 2010
Abstract
Knowledge of lithium, beryllium, and boron abundances in stars of the Galactic halo and disk plays a major role in our understanding of Big Bang nucleosynthesis, cosmic-ray physics, and stellar interiors. 9Be and 10B are believed to originate entirely from spallation reactions in the interstellar medium (ISM) between α-particles and protons and heavy nuclei like carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen (CNO), whereas 11B may have an extra production channel via neutrino-spallation. Beryllium and boron are both observationally challenging, with their main resonant doublets falling respectively at 313 nm and at 250 nm. The advent of 8-10m class telescopes equipped with highly sensitive (in the near-UV/blue) spectrographs has opened up a new era of Be abundance studies. Here, I will review and discuss the most interesting results of recent observational campaigns in terms of formation and evolution of these two light elements.
- Type
- Contributed Papers
- Information
- Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 5 , Symposium S268: Light Elements in the Universe , November 2009 , pp. 221 - 230
- Copyright
- Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2010
References
- 3
- Cited by