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J. P. Fulbright (Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington)
We present early results of a study to determine whether accretion of planetary material is a significant contributor to the surface abundances of stars. We have analyzed high-resolution, high-S/N spectra of ~80 Hyades members for the abundances of both volatile and refractory elements. Stars that host planets (Gonzalez et al. 2001, Santos et al. 2001) show abundance enhancements with respect to the rest of the nearby disk population. Smith et al. (2001) further showed that a subsample of these host stars are enhanced in refractory elements. Both results may be a sign of the accretion of planetary material, but it may be difficult to disentangle the effects of accretion against the effects of galactic chemical evolution when comparing individual field stars. Cluster stars, however, should form out of material with nearly identical initial abundances. Stars with shallow surface convection zones (F and G stars) could show signs of accretion, while stars with deep surface convective zones (K dwarfs and giants) should be immune to the abundance effects of planetary accretion.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34, #4
© 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.