Bibcode
Shetrone, Matthew D.; Frebel, A.; Allende Prieto, C.; Krugler, J.; Sneden, C.; Beers, T.; Rhee, J.; Roederer, I.; Cowan, J. J.
Bibliographical reference
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #213, #408.11; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.207
Advertised on:
1
2009
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
The chemical evolution of the Galaxy and the early Universe is a key
topic in modern astrophysics. The most metal-poor Galactic halo stars
are now frequently used in an attempt to reconstruct the onset of the
chemical and dynamical formation processes of the Galaxy. These stars
are an easily-accessible local equivalent of the high-redshift Universe,
and can thus be used to carry out near-field cosmology.
In order to identify large numbers of metal-poor stars we started the
Hobby-Eberly Telescope Chemical Abundances of Stars in the Halo (CASH)
Project. This University of Texas Long Term Project aims at discovering
metal-poor Galactic halo stars selected from various surveys. We present
the results of the first two years of HET observations: Thus far, 400
metal-poor star are observed with the high-resolution spectrograph --
the largest data base for these objects so far. Data reduction, stellar
parameter determination, and our automated analysis procedure are
presented. We also report the abundances found in our stars with which
we aim to establish the frequencies of chemically distinct subgroups of
metal-poor stars in the halo.