Subgiants as probes of galactic chemical evolution

Abstract

Chemical abundances for 23 candidate subgiant stars have been derived with the aim at exploring their usefulness for studies of galactic evolution. High-resolution spectra from ESO CAT-CES and NOT-SOFIN covered 16 different spectral regions in the visible part of the spectrum. Some 200 different atomic and molecular spectral lines have been used for abundance analysis of about 30 elemental species. The wings of strong, pressure-broadened metal lines were used for determination of stellar surface gravities, which have been compared with gravities derived from Hipparcos parallaxes and isochronic masses. Stellar space velocities have been derived from Hipparcos and Simbad data, and ages and masses were derived with recent isochrones. Only 12 of the stars turned out to be subgiants, i.e. on the horizontal part of the evolutionary track between the dwarf- and the giant stages. The abundances derived for the subgiants correspond closely to those of dwarf stars. With the possible exceptions of lithium and carbon we find that subgiant stars show no chemical traces of post-main-sequence evolution and that they are therefore very useful targets for studies of galactic evolution.