On the mass and metallicity distribution of parent AGB stars of presolar SiC

Abstract

The vast majority (>=90%) of presolar SiC grains identified in primitive meteorites are relics of ancient asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, whose ejecta were incorporated into the Solar System during its formation. Detailed characterization of these ancient stardust grains has revealed precious information on mixing processes in AGB interiors in great detail. However, the mass and metallicity distribution of their parent stars still remains ambiguous, although such information is crucial to investigating the slow neutron capture process, whose efficiency is mass- and metallicity-dependent. Using a well-known Milky Way chemo-dynamical model, we follow the evolution of the AGB stars that polluted the Solar System at 4.57 Gyr ago and weighted the stars based on their SiC dust productions. We find that presolar SiC in the Solar System predominantly originated from AGB stars with M~2 Msun and Z~Zsun. Our finding well explains the grain-size distribution of presolar SiC identified in situ in primitive meteorites. Moreover, it provides complementary results to very recent papers dealing with the characterization of parent stars of presolar SiC.

Accepted for publication on Astronomy & Astrophjysics

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• Presolar grain isotopic ratios as constraints to nuclear and stellar parameters of AGB nucleosynthesis
• Magnetic-buoyancy-induced mixing in AGB Stars: a theoretical explanation of the non-universal [Y/Mg]-age relation
• Cluster analysis of presolar silicon carbide grains: evaluation of their classification and astrophysical implications
• Galactic Chemical Evolution of Radioactive Isotopes with an s-process Contribution
• Where have all the interstellar silicon carbides gone?
• Slow Neutron-Capture Process: Low-mass AGB stars and presolar silicon carbide grains
• Presolar grains
• The ${}^{22}$Ne($\alpha$,n)${}^{25}$Mg reaction -- state of the art, astrophysics, and perspectives
• Effects of Metallicity on Graphite, TiC, and SiC Condensation in Carbon Stars
• Impact of $\text{T}$- and $\rho$-dependent decay rates and new (n,$\gamma$) cross sections on the $\text{s}$ process in low-mass AGB stars
• Interrelations between Astrochemistry and Galactic Dynamics