TS01 is an exceptional planetary nebula (PN) in the Galactic halo: it is the most oxygen-poor and has a double-degenerate core with mass close to 1.4M⊙, possibly a Supernova Ia progenitor. With data from the far UV to the IR we can pin down the abundances of half a dozen of elements. The oxygen abundance is by 1.9(±0.3) dex lower than in the Sun. Standard AGB models with appropriate mass and metallicity cannot explain the observed chemical composition. We find that additional mixing, induced by stellar rotation and/or by the presence of the close companion can explain most of the features of the abundance pattern in TS01.

We discuss three effects of axial rotation at low metallicity. The first one is the mixing of the chemical species which is predicted to be more efficient in low metallicity environments. A consequence is the production of important quantities of primary 14N, 13C, 22Ne and a strong impact on the nucleosynthesis of the s-process elements. The second effect is a consequence of the first. Strong mixing makes possible the apparition at the surface of important quantities of CNO elements. This increases the opacity of the outer layers and may trigger important mass loss by line driven winds. The third effect is the fact that, during the main-sequence phase, stars, at very low metallicity, reach more easily than their more metal rich counterparts, the critical velocity. We discuss the respective importance of these three effects as a function of the metallicity. We show the consequences for the early chemical evolution of the galactic halo and for explaining the CEMP stars. We conclude that rotation is probably a key feature which contributes in an important way to shape the evolution of the first stellar generations in the Universe.

A program is outlined, and first results described, in which fully three-dimensional, time dependent simulations of hydrodynamic turbulence are used as a basis for theoretical investigation of the physics of turbulence. The inadequacy of the treatment of turbulent convection as a diffusive process is indicated. A generalization to rotation and magnetohydrodynamics is indicated, as are connections to simulations of 3D stellar atmospheres.

A significant fraction of metal-poor stars have large over-abundances of carbon, and are called Carbon-Enhanced Metal-Poor (CEMP) stars. Most of CEMP stars also show excesses of heavy neutron-capture elements like Ba, indicating that their origin is the nucleosynthesis in AGB stars. Remaining CEMP stars that have Ba abundances as low as non-carbon-rich stars appear in the lowest metallicity range ([Fe/H]≲−2.5), and connections with the two most iron-deficient stars (so-called Hyper Metal-Poor stars) are suggested. Although the origins of the carbon-excesses in these objects have not been well identified, some objects suggest contributions of faint supernovae. Remaining problems on CEMP stars, such as the binary fraction, excess of r-process elements, are discussed.

A large fraction, between 10 and 25%, of very metal-poor stars in the Galactic halo are carbon-rich objects, with enhancements of carbon relative to iron exceeding a factor 10. The majority of these carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars show enhancements of heavy s-process elements and have been found to be spectroscopic binary systems. Many of their properties are well explained by the binary mass transfer scenario, in which a former asymptotic giant branch (AGB) companion star has polluted the low-mass star with its nucleosynthesis products. The same scenario predicts the existence of nitrogen-rich metal-poor (NEMP) stars, with [N/C] > 0.5, from AGB companions more massive than about 3 solar masses. In contrast to CEMP stars, however, such NEMP stars are very rare. Recent studies suggest that the high frequency of CEMP stars requires a modified initial mass function (IMF) in the early Galaxy, weighted towards intermediate-mass stars. Such models also implicitly predict a large number of NEMP stars which is not seen.

We present the results of [Ba/Eu] ratio determinations for a sample of Carbon-Enhanced Metal Poor (CEMP) stars, comparing them with other CEMP stars found in the literature for which abundances for both elements are available. The stellar spectra were observed at 4.2m William Herschel Telescope (WHT) on July/2003, using Utrecht Echelle Spectrograph (UES) with R ~ 52000 and S/N ~ 40. WHT covers a wavelength range of λλ3700-5700.

The abundance derivation of heavy r-elements may provide a better understanding of the r-process, and the determination of several reference r-elements should allow a better determination of the star's age. The spatial ultraviolet (UV) region presents a large number of lines of heavy elements, and in some cases such as Bi, Pt, Au, detectable lines are only available in the UV. The extreme “r-process star” CS 31082-001 ([Fe/H] = −2.9) was observed in the spatial UV in order to determine abundances of the heavy elements, using STIS on board HST.

Approximately 20% of very metal-poor stars ([Fe/H] < −2.0) are strongly enhanced in carbon ([C/Fe] > +1.0). Such stars are referred to as carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars. We present a chemical abundance analysis based on high resolution spectra acquired with UVES at the VLT of three dwarf CEMP stars: SDSS J1349-0229, SDSS J0912+0216 and SDSS J1036+1212. These very metal-poor stars, with [Fe/H] < −2.5, were selected from our ongoing survey of extremely metal-poor dwarf candidates from the SDSS.

Among these CEMPs, SDSS J1349-0229 has been identified as a carbon star ([C/O] > +1.0). First and second peak s-process elements, as well as second peak r-process elements have been detected in all stars. In addition, elements from the third r-process peak were detected in one of the stars, SDSS J1036+1212. We present the abundance results of these stars in the context of neutron-capture nucleosynthesis theories.

We performed a chemical abundance analysis of the very bright (V = 9.1) carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) star BD+44°493, which is the first star found with metallicity [Fe/H] < −3.5 and an apparent magnitude V < 12. The star is classified as a CEMP-no” subgiant, and its abundance pattern implies that a first-generation faint supernova is the most likely origin of its carbon excess. We set an very low upper limit on this star's beryllium abundance, which demonstrates that high C and O abundances do not necessarily imply high Be abundances.

We report on medium-resolution near-IR spectroscopy of a sample of over 60 Carbon-Enhanced Metal-Poor (CEMP) stars observed with SOAR/OSIRIS, selected from the HK survey of Beers and colleagues and the Hamburg/ESO Survey of Christlieb and colleagues. Oxygen abundances from the molecular CO lines as well as rough estimates of 12C/13C ratios are estimated from the near-IR spectra of these stars. Near-IR model spectra with varying oxygen abundances, in combination with previously determined parameters from optical spectra are used for the estimation of abundances for this sample. As both oxygen abundances and 12C/13C ratios are tracers of nucleosynthesis, we hope to gain information about Galactic nucleosynthesis through the analysis of this sample.

Extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars in the Galactic halo are stars formed in the very early stage of the chemical evolution of the Galaxy. In previous study, we proposed that typical mass of EMP stars are massive, based on observations of carbon-enhanced EMP stars. In this study, we build a merger tree of the Galaxy semi-analytically and follow the chemical evolution along the merger tree. We also consider the effect of binary and high-mass initial mass function(IMF). Resultant theoretical metallicity distribution function (MDF) and abundance distribution are compared with observed metal-poor halo stars.

We determined the atmospheric parameters and abundance pattern of two chemically peculiar metal-poor stars: HD 10613 and BD+04°2466 and discuss the nature of these two objects.

We have developed a new procedure to search for Carbon-Enhanced Metal-Poor (CEMP) stars from the Hamburg/ESO (HES) prism-survey plates. This method uses an extended line index for the CH G-band, which we demonstrate to have superior behavior when compared to the narrower G-band index formerly employed for these spectra.

A first subsample, biased towards brighter stars (B<15.5), has been extracted from the scanned HES plates. After visual inspection (to eliminate spectra compromised by plate defects, overlapping spectra, etc., and to carry out rough spectral classifications), a list of 669 previously unidentified candidate CEMP stars was compiled. Follow-up spectroscopy for a pilot sample of 132 candidates was obtained on the SOAR 4.1m telescope. Our results show that most of the stars observed lie in the targetted metallicity range, and possess prominent carbon absorption features at 4300Å. The success rate for the identification of new CEMP stars is ~50% for [Fe/H]< −2.0. For stars with [Fe/H]< −2.5, the ratio increases to 100%.

Beryllium stellar abundances were suggested to be a good tracer of time in the early Galaxy. In an investigation of its use as a cosmochronometer, using a large sample of local halo and thick-disk dwarfs, evidence was found that in a log(Be/H) vs. [α/Fe] diagram the halo stars separate into two components. One is consistent with predictions of evolutionary models while the other is chemically indistinguishable from the thick-disk stars. This is interpreted as a difference in the star formation history of the two components and suggests that the local halo is not a single uniform population where a clear age-metallicity relation can be defined.

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the brightest events in the universe. They have been used in the last five years to study the cosmic chemical evolution, from the local universe to the first stars. The sample size is still relatively small when compared to field galaxy surveys. However, GRBs show a universe that is surprising. At z > 2, the cold interstellar medium in galaxies is chemically evolved, with a mean metallicity of about 1/10 solar. At lower redshift (z < 1), metallicities of the ionized gas are relatively low, on average 1/6 solar. Not only is there no evidence of redshift evolution in the interval 0 < z < 6.3, but also the dispersion in the ~30 objects is large. This suggests that the metallicity of host galaxies is not the physical quantity triggering GRB events. From the investigation of other galaxy parameters, it emerges that active star-formation might be a stronger requirement to produce a GRB. Several recent striking results strongly support the idea that GRB studies open a new view on our understanding of galaxy formation and evolution, back to the very primordial universe at z ~ 8.

A galaxy's metallicity provides a record of star formation, gas accretion, and gas outflow, and is therefore one of the most informative measurements that can be made at high redshift. It is also one of the most difficult. I review methods of determining chemical abundances in distant star-forming galaxies, and summarize results for galaxies at 1 ≲ z ≲ 3. I then focus on the mass-metallicity relation, its evolution with redshift, and its uses in constraining inflows and outflows of gas, and conclude with a brief discussion of future prospects for metallicity measurements at high redshift.

We analyze the PNe chemical behavior in three different galaxies, two dwarf irregulars and one spiral. Different behaviors are found. In the very low metallicity galaxy NGC 3109, PNe analyzed appear 0.39 dex O-richer than HII regions, while Ar/H ratio is, in average, 0.15 dex poorer. We interpret this as an evidence of significant O dredge-up in these LIMS, born in a very low metallicity environment. In NGC 6822, with a present metallicity 12+log O/H=8.06, two PN populations were found. A young one, with abundances similar to those in HII regions and an old population, with metallicities a factor of two lower. In this case no strong evidence for O dredge-up in LIMS is found. Therefore, metallicities lower than 12+log O/H =7.7 are required for an efficient O dredge-up. From our preliminary analysis of the abundances of PNe in NGC 300 we find that they are similar to the abundances in HII regions. Apparently, the PNe analyzed belong to a young population. Very similar abundance gradients, with galactocentric distance, are found for HII regions and for PNe.

The irregular dwarf galaxy IC10 is located within the Local Group (LG) at a distance of 750 kpc. Although several studies have revealed the existence of stellar populations with a broad range of ages, its star formation history (SFH) and age-metallicity (AM) relationship remain quite unknown. In this contribution we present our spectroscopic investigation of 15 H ii regions, 9 planetary nebulae (PNe) and 1 symbiotic star –so far the farthest known symbiotic binary. Our main goal is to reconstruct the SFH of IC10 and to constrain its AM relationship using young and intermediate-age stars. The direct availability of the electron temperature in our emission-line spectra allows an accurate determination of the IC10 metallicity map at two different epochs. We find a non-homogeneous distribution of metals at both epochs, but similar average abundances for the two analyzed populations. The derived AM relationship shows a little global enrichment, which is interpreted as due to the loss of metals by supernovae winds and to differential gas outflows. Our results bring strong observational constraints to the chemical enrichment history of IC10, the formation of dwarf irregular galaxies and the evolution of the LG as well.

Intergalactic metals are ubiquitous, but their sources remain unknown. A key constraint on these sources is the spatial distributions of metals. Yet, the clustering of metals is difficult to interpret along single lines-of-sight, because distance and velocity information are mixed in redshift space. To overcome this situation we are carrying out detailed comparisons between the line-of-sight and transverse distributions of metal line absorption systems observed in a large sample of QSO pairs and simulations including a wide range of IGM-enrichment scenarios. The degeneracy between distance and velocity is broken by the transverse information available in pairs of sightlines, and thus these comparisons are providing unique new constraints on when and where metals were ejected from galaxies.

We discuss possibility of observations of the warm-hot intergalactic medium using the hyperfine structure line of highly charged nitrogen ion 14N VII (rest wavelength λ = 5.652 mm). Observations of this line will allow to separate bulk and turbulent motions in the observed target and will broaden the information about the gas ionization state, chemical and isotopic composition.

Wavelength of this line is well-suited for ground-based observation of objects at z ≈ 0.15 − 0.6 when it is redshifted to the widely-used 6.5 − 9 mm spectral band, and, for example, for z ≥ 1.3, when the line can be observed in 1.3 cm band and at lower frequencies.