Oral Presentation Astronomical Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting including HWWS 2013

Stellar yields from low and intermediate-mass stars (#62)

Amanda Karakas 1
  1. Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia

The chemical yields from stars are a key ingredient in chemical evolution models.  Stars with masses as low as 0.9 solar masses, which have an age less than that of our Galaxy at low metallicity, can contribute to the chemical evolution of elements. Stars less than about 10 solar masses experience recurrent mixing events that can significantly change the surface composition of the envelope, with observed enrichments in carbon, nitrogen, fluorine, and heavy elements synthesized by the slow neutron capture process (the s-process). These stars release their nucleosynthesis products through stellar outflows or winds, in contrast to massive stars that explode as core collapse supernovae. In this talk I will review stellar yields for stars up to 10 solar masses, including a brief discussion of their uncertainties and shortcomings. I will also discuss efforts by various groups to address these issues and provide homogeneous yields for low and intermediate-mass stars covering a broad range of metallicities.