The international Project “Lithium in magnetic CP stars” has been put into operation using telescopes of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory (2.6-m reflector ZTSH), European Southern Observatory (1.4-m CAT, 1.52-m with FEROS), Mount Stromlo Observatory (74-inch), Nordic Optical Telescope Scientific Association (2.4-m with SOFIN), Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences (6-m BTA). Here we present an historical report of the different scientific results of this project since its beginning in 1996.

Stars form by gravoturbulent fragmentation of interstellar gas clouds. The supersonic turbulence ubiquitously observed in Galactic molecular gas generates strong density fluctuations with gravity taking over in the densest and most massive regions. Collapse sets in to build up stars and star clusters.

Turbulence plays a dual role. On global scales it provides support, while at the same time it can promote local collapse. Stellar birth is thus intimately linked to the dynamic behavior of parental gas clouds, which governs when and where protostellar cores form, and how they contract and grow in mass via accretion from the surrounding cloud material to build up stars. The equation of state plays a pivotal role in the fragmentation process. Under typical cloud conditions, massive stars form as part of dense clusters following the “normal” mass function observed, e.g. in the solar neighborhood. However, for gas with an effective polytropic index greater than unity star formation becomes biased towards isolated massive stars. This is relevant for understanding the properties of zero-metallicity stars (Population III) or stars that form under extreme environmental conditions like in the Galactic center or in luminous starbursts.

Fundamental parameters and lithium abundances, ALi, have been derived for a sample of evolved stars in the globular cluster 47 Tuc (from GIRAFFE spectra and MARCS models of atmosphere). These data sample a complete evolutionary sequence from subgiant stage to the tip of the Asymptotic Giant Branch. With this unique observational data set we have analyzed the evolution of ALi along the Red Giant Branch (RGB) using non-standard stellar evolution models, so as to explore the occurence and the efficiency of extra-mixing processes in low mass stars at the so-called Red Giant bump.

The question of how metals are produced in the Universe and where they are located is fundamental for our understanding of galaxy formation and evolution. This question can be best addressed using absorption lines seen in the spectra of remote quasars. It has been realized that the spatial distribution of metals around galaxies and more generally in the Intergalactic Medium is complex, and it is often very difficult to associate one absorption system with one galaxy. Except for possibly in the special case of DLA systems, it may be more appropriate to discuss the clustering properties of different classes of objects and to measure their correlation functions. I illustrate these issues with three examples: the distribution of metals around galaxies at intermediate redshift, the modelling of the clustering of C IV systems, and the determination of abundances in Damped Lyman-α systems (and in particular the oxygen abundance). Finally, I note that there is a mass-metallicity relation in Damped Lyman-α systems.

The living record of early Galactic nucleosynthesis is written in the chemical compositions of metal-poor stars. For stars with metallicities $-1.0 \geq $ [Fe/H] $\geq -2.5$, several decades of spectroscopic studies have delineated the abundance trends of elements that are synthesized by major nuclear fusion reaction chains. There is very strong observational evidence that the r-process isotopes identified in metal-poor stars and the solar system matter are in fact the product of two distinct types of r-process events. The observed pattern beyond Z [ges ] 40 up to Th-U should most likely be produced by only one (or a few) r-process event(s) in a unique stellar site. This “main” r-process then produces the “low-Z” elements (40 [les ] Z [les ] 48) under-abundant compared to solar, and reaches the full solar values presumably around Te.

The abundance patterns of extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars provide us with important information on nucleosynthesis in supernovae (SNe) formed in a Pop III or EMP environment, and thus on the nature of the first stars in the Universe. We review nucleosynthesis yields of various types of those SNe, focusing on core-collapse (black-hole-forming) SNe with various progenitor masses, explosion energies (including Hypernovae), and asphericity. We discuss the implications of the observed trends in the abundance ratios among iron-peak elements, and the large C/Fe ratio observed in certain EMP stars with particular attention to recently discovered hyper metal-poor (HMP) stars. We show that the abundance pattern of the HMP stars with [Fe/H] <−5 and other EMP stars are in good accord with those of black-hole-forming supernovae, but not pair-instability supernovae. This suggests that black-hole-forming supernovae made important contributions to the early Galactic (and cosmic) chemical evolution. Finally we discuss the nature of First (Pop III) Stars.

We employ a new Infrared Flux Method (IRFM) temperature scale (Ramírez & Meléndez 2005a, b) in order to determine Li, O, and Fe NLTE abundances in a sample of relatively unevolved (dwarfs, turn-off, subgiants) metal-poor stars. We show that the analysis of the permitted OI triplet and FeII lines leads to a plateau in [OI/FeII] over the broad metallicity range $-3.2 <$ [Fe/H] $<-$0.7, independent of temperature and metallicity, and with a star-to-star scatter of only 0.1 dex. The Li abundance in halo stars is also found to be independent of temperature and metallicity (Spite plateau), with a star-to-star scatter of just 0.06 dex over the metallicity range $-3.4 <$ [Fe/H] $<-1$. Our Li abundance (Meléndez & Ramírez 2004) is higher than previously reported values, but still lower than the primordial abundance suggested by WMAP data and BBN.

In grand design spiral galaxies, spiral arms play a dominant role in the oxygen enrichment rate, since type II supernovae are the main source of oxygen, and these supernovae only appear in spiral arms. The connection between the spiral structure and the star formation rate explains oxygen abundance gradients that rise outward, in the external regions of a number of galaxies.

I review recent developments in the field of radio observations of ultracompact H II (UCHII) regions that have appeared in the literature since the last major review (Churchwell 2002). The morphology of UCHII regions continues to be a topic of research and recent studies of individual regions of star formation suggest modifications with respect to the results obtained from galactic plane surveys. I also briefly touch upon the question of the density structure of UCHII regions. Finally, I will also discuss the evidence of time variability in UCHII regions, and present examples of objects that are expanding, varying in flux density, or moving in the sky.

We present elemental abundance ratios for red giant stars in 9 old halo globular clusters based on the homogeneous data sample and analysis method. Our result suggests that [Si/Ti] ratios in old globular clusters decrease with Galactocentric distances, confirming the previous result by Lee & Carney (2002). We propose that contributions from different masses of the Type II suprenovae progenitors that enriched proto-globular clusters' clouds are responsible for this gradient.

We report on a survey of $^7$Li and $^6$Li isotopic abundances in metal-poor halo stars. The spectra of the 24 stars observed with VLT/UVES are of exceptionally high quality: $S/N>400$ and resolving power $R \simeq 120 000$. The $^7$Li abundances on our H$\alpha$$T_{\rm eff}$-scale show very small intrinsic scatter and a pronounced [Fe/H]-dependence. The resulting estimated primordial $^7$Li abundance is about 0.5 dex lower than predicted from Big Bang nucleosynthesis and the baryon density inferred by the cosmic microwave background. Nine of the stars yield a positive detection (${>}2\sigma$) of $^6$Li, which suggests the existence of a $^6$Li plateau for halo stars. The most interesting result is the presence of $^6$Li in the very metal-poor ([Fe/H]$=-2.74$) dwarf LP815-43 at the level of $^6$Li/$^7$Li${\simeq}\, 0.05\pm0.02$. According to models for stellar Li depletion due to diffusion or rotationally-induced mixing, a 0.5 dex $^7$Li depletion would require an unrealistic high initial $^6$Li abundance ($\log ^6{\rm Li} \ge 2.0$). Simultaneously, the observed high $^6$Li abundance at such low [Fe/H] can not be reconciled with existing models for Galactic cosmic ray spallation and $\alpha$-fusion reactions. This opens up exciting prospects of pre-Galactic $^6$Li production, possibly due to cosmological cosmic rays or late-decaying massive particles such as the gravitino or neutralino in the Big Bang.

The AMS-02 experiment is a large acceptance magnetic spectrometer which will operate on the International Space Station for more than 3 years. This will allow to perform high statistics studies of cosmic rays in space and the accurate determination of secondary-to-primary ratios such as B/C, and the ratio $^{10}$Be/$^{9}$B, thus allowing to discriminate among the possible propagation models and to infer other clues about the light elements production.

We present preliminary results on the chemical abundance patterns of extremely metal-poor stars obtained during an ongoing observing program with Subaru/HDS. High-resolution, high signal-to-noise spectra have been obtained for 14 stars with [Fe/H]$\lesssim -3$. Five of them exhibit clear overabundances of carbon, a remarkable characteristic found only in the most metal-poor range. One of the carbon-rich stars, HE 1327–2326, has [Fe/H]$_{\rm NLTE}=-5.4$, the lowest Fe abundance known. No stars with ${-}5\,{<}\,$[Fe/H]$\,{<}\,{-}4$ have yet been found in our program, suggesting that quite different enrichment processes were responsible for stars with [Fe/H]$\,{<}\,{-}5$ and [Fe/H]$\,{>}\,{-}4$. While neutron-capture elements are deficient in most of our stars, one star (BS 16550–087) exhibits large enhancements of its light neutron-capture elements (Sr, Y and Zr), providing a strong constraint on models for the production of such elements in the very early Galaxy.

We compute the evolution of the abundances of barium and europium in the Milky Way with a chemical evolution model which already reproduces the majority of observational constraints, and we compared our results with the observed abundances from the recent UVES Large Program “First Stars” (Cayrel et al. 2004, François et al. 2005).

We confirm that barium is a neutron capture element mainly produced in the low mass AGB stars, during the thermal-pulsing phase, by the 13C neutron source, in a slow neutron capture process. However, in order to reproduce the [Ba/Fe] vs. [Fe/H] as well as the Ba solar abundance, Ba should be also produced as a r-process element by massive stars in the range 10-30M[odot ]. On the other hand, europium should be only a r-process element produced in the same range of masses (10-30M[odot ]), at variance with previous suggestions indicating a smaller mass range for the Eu producers. As it is well known, there is a large spread in the [Ba/Fe] and [Eu/Fe] ratios at low metallicities, although smaller in the newest data. With our model we estimate ranges in the r-process yields from massive stars for both elements which better reproduce the trend of the data. We discuss several possibilities to explain the observed spread. We suggest that a peculiar behaviour of the neutron capture elements could be the responsible for the spread instead of invoking a strongly inhomogeneous early Galactic halo. We finally underline that the production ratio of [Ba/Eu] may be almost constant in the massive stars.

The Sun has typical abundances of both oxygen and sulphur for its metallicity, age and galactic orbit, when compared to the nearby solar-type stars. This result favors a solution of the old riddle of the solar overabundance in oxygen with respect to the local interstellar medium as caused by the recent infall of metal-poor gas over the disk, rather than the competing explanations of an outward migration of the Sun from a inner, and metal richer, birthplace in the disk, or a last-minute supernova which might have enriched the proto-solar nebula.

We summarize the results of recent model computation for massive Asymptotic Giant Branch stars of low metallicity, whose winds are thought to be the matter from which second generation stars are born in Globular Clusters (GCs) showing abundance anomalies. The yields of these ejecta are highly uncertain, but our models in the range of masses 3.5–4.5M[odot ] can reasonably explain some of the chemical anomalies of Globular Cluster stars.

Eight cool giants in the unusual globular cluster NGC 6388 have been investigated in order to derive their elemental abundances. Average relative-to-solar abundance of iron is about –0.8. We have found that oxygen abundance is reduced as compared to most stars of a similar metallicity. The reduced carbon as compared to oxygen is at the level to be expected for red giant tip stars. Abundance of the rest of investigated elements are within the expected limits for the globular cluster stars.

We present numerical investigations into the formation of massive stars from turbulent cores of density gradient $\rho \propto r^{-1.5}$. The results of five hydrodynamical simulations are described, following the collapse of the core, fragmentation and the formation of small clusters of protostars. We generate two different initial turbulent velocity fields corresponding to power-law spectra $P \propto k^{-4}$ and $P \propto k^{-3.5}$, and apply two different initial core radii. Calculations are included for both completely isothermal collapse, and a non-isothermal equation of state above a critical density ($10^{-14}$gcm$^{-3}$). Our calculations reveal the preference of fragmentation over monolithic star formation in turbulent cores. Fragmentation was prevalent in all the isothermal cases. Although disc fragmentation was largely suppressed in the non-isothermal runs due to the small dynamic range between the initial density and the critical density, our results show that some fragmentation still persisted. This is inconsistent with previous suggestions that turbulent cores result in the formation of a single massive star. We conclude that turbulence cannot be measured as an isotropic pressure term.

The physical parameters of HII regions span orders of magnitude in scale. The classes most closely linked to star formation are the smallest, densest, and, presumably, youngest stages: compact, ultracompact, and hypercompact HII regions.

Although hypercompact HII regions have been known for over ten years, until recently only a very small number of these regions were known. Moreover, it is only in the past several years that these regions have come to be recognized as a distinct class of HII region and that attempts have been made to understand their place in the scheme of massive star formation.

Here we present a summary of the observational studies to date. We give special emphasis to radio continuum studies, which indicate density gradients within the ionized gas, and to radio spectral line studies, which show unusually broad recombination line profiles. Possible interpretations of these aspects of hypercompact HII regions are discussed, and their implications for the interpretation of hypercompact HII regions as an evolutionary stage in the high-mass star formation process.

Attempts are made to summarize some main points and results discussed at the IAU Symposium No. 228 in Paris, May 2005. It is concluded that, although the situation in areas pioneered by F. and M. Spite is nowdays rather complex, some important progress has recently been made, and more is expected to occur within the next few years if the level of ambition in the astronomical community is kept at the high level set by the pioneers.