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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 August 2015
Several points of detail which affect stellar abundance determinations are discussed. In particular, the importance of including the effects of hyperfine structure and isotopic shifts when considering the lines of some elements is stressed.
The abundance determinations for F dwarfs by Bell and Peytremann, who use theoretical calibrations for intermediate band photometry, and Nissen, who observes very narrow spectral intervals, are intercompared. The agreement between Bell and Nissen, who have 46 stars in common, is quite satisfactory.
Recent work on carbon and nitrogen abundances in cool stars is described. The suggestion of Hearnshaw, that [C/H] = 1.5 [Fe/H] for disc stars with −0.7 < [Fe/H] < 0.4, is compared with recent results by Clegg. Whilst Clegg's results are quite precise, they neither confirm nor deny Hearnshaw's suggestion. Work by Branch and Bell on K giants shows that [C/Fe] = 0, or a constant, for the stars in the sample. A value of about 7 for the C12/C13 ratio in the atmosphere of Arcturus has now been confirmed by several authors and Lambert and his collaborators have determined this ratio for several K giants.
The suggestion by Spinrad, Taylor and others that the M67 dwarfs are more metal-rich than the Hyades, i.e. that they are super-metal-rich or SMR, seems to be erroneous. However some SMR stars, such as 31 Aql, certainly exist even though there is still some uncertainty in the precise abundance of strong CN stars such as μ Leo.
Examples of synthetic spectra for metal-deficient giant stars are given and a theoretical colour-colour diagram is compared with observations of globular cluster and Draco stars.