The evolution of CNO elements in galaxies

Abstract

After hydrogen and helium, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen - hereinafter, the CNO elements - are the most abundant species in the universe. They are observed in all kinds of astrophysical environments, from the smallest to the largest scales, and are at the basis of all known forms of life, hence, the constituents of any biomarker. As such, their study proves crucial in several areas of contemporary astrophysics, extending to astrobiology. In this review, I will summarize current knowledge about CNO element evolution in galaxies, starting from our home, the Milky Way. After a brief recap of CNO synthesis in stars, I will present the comparison between chemical evolution model predictions and observations of CNO isotopic abundances and abundance ratios in stars and in gaseous matter. Such a comparison permits to constrain the modes and time scales of the assembly of galaxies and their stellar populations, as well as stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis theories. I will stress that chemical evolution models must be carefully calibrated against the wealth of abundance data available for the Milky Way before they can be applied to the interpretation of observational datasets for other systems. In this vein, I will also discuss the usefulness of some key CNO isotopic ratios as probes of the prevailing, galaxy-wide stellar initial mass function in galaxies where more direct estimates from starlight are unfeasible.

83 pages, 19 figures. Invited review to appear in Astronomy and Astrophysics Review

References in corpus (119)

• The Gaia mission
• Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA)
• Binary interaction dominates the evolution of massive stars
• Pre-Supernova Evolution of Massive Single and Binary Stars
• The GALAH Survey: Scientific Motivation
• Nucleosynthesis and Remnants in Massive Stars of Solar Metallicity
• The Dawes Review 2: Nucleosynthesis and stellar yields of low and intermediate-mass single stars
• Carbon Enhanced Metal-Poor Stars. I. Chemical Compositions of 26 Stars
• The nucleosynthesis of Al26 and Fe60 in solar metallicity stars extending in mass from 11 to 120 Msun: the hydrostatic and explosive contributions
• First stars VI - Abundances of C, N, O, Li, and mixing in extremely metal-poor giants. Galactic evolution of the light elements
• An extremely primitive halo star
• Thermohaline mixing: A physical mechanism governing the photospheric composition of low-mass giants
• Stellar Models and Yields of Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars
• The Supernova Channel of Super-AGB Stars
• Super and massive AGB stars - IV. Final fates - Initial to final mass relation
• Very low metallicity massive star models: Pre-SN evolution and primary nitrogen production
• The Evolution of Massive Helium Stars Including Mass Loss
• The Gaia-ESO Survey: the Galactic Thick to Thin Disc transition
• Effects of rotation on the evolution of primordial stars
• Observational constraints on the origin of the elements. IV: The standard composition of the Sun
• A strong case for fast stellar rotation at very low metallicities
• Tracing chemical evolution over the extent of the Milky Way's Disk with APOGEE Red Clump Stars
• TOPoS: II. On the bimodality of carbon abundance in CEMP stars. Implications on the early chemical evolution of galaxies
• The impact of companions on stellar evolution
• First stars IX -Mixing in extremely metal-poor giants. Variation of the 12C/13C, [Na/Mg] and [Al/Mg] ratios
• Evolution and nucleosynthesis of asymptotic giant branch stellar models of low metallicity
• The evolution of CNO isotopes: a new window on cosmic star-formation history and the stellar IMF in the age of ALMA
• Pair creation supernovae at low and high redshift
• Can Extra Mixing in RGB and AGB Stars Be Attributed to Magnetic Mechanisms?
• The Chemical Evolution of Carbon, Nitrogen, and Oxygen in Metal-Poor Dwarf Galaxies
• Isotopic fractionation of carbon, deuterium and nitrogen : a full chemical study
• The Rest-Frame Submillimeter Spectrum of High-Redshift, Dusty, Star-Forming Galaxies
• Origin of chemically distinct discs in the Auriga cosmological simulations
• Carbon and oxygen abundances in stellar populations
• Solar Carbon Monoxide, Thermal Profiling, and the Abundances of C, O, and their Isotopes
• The Gaia-ESO Public Spectroscopic Survey: Motivation, implementation, GIRAFFE data processing, analysis, and final data products
• The Gaia-ESO Survey: the chemical structure of the Galactic discs from the first internal data release
• Super and massive AGB stars - III. Nucleosynthesis in metal-poor and very metal-poor stars - Z=0.001 and 0.0001
• The AMBRE Project: chemical evolution models for the Milky Way thick and thin discs
• First stars X. The nature of three unevolved Carbon-Enhanced Metal-Poor stars
• Robust HI kinematics of gas-rich ultra-diffuse galaxies: hints of a weak-feedback formation scenario
• The optimally-sampled galaxy-wide stellar initial mass function - Observational tests and the publicly available GalIMF code
• Oxygen abundances in G- and F-type stars from HARPS
• A new imprint of fast rotators: low 12C/13C ratios in extremely metal-poor halo stars
• On the origin of stars with and without planets. Tc trends and clues to Galactic evolution
• The Galactic radial abundance gradients of C, N, O, Ne, S, Cl and Ar from deep spectra of H II regions
• Constraining planet structure and composition from stellar chemistry: trends in different stellar populations
• On carbon and oxygen isotope ratios in starburst galaxies: New data from NGC253 and Mrk231 and their implications
• Galactic interstellar 18O/17O ratios - a radial gradient?
• Molecular gas heating mechanisms, and star formation feedback in merger/s tarbursts: NGC 6240 and Arp 193 as case studies
• The first carbon-enhanced metal-poor star found in the Sculptor dwarf spheroidal
• Remnants and ejecta of thermonuclear electron-capture supernovae: Constraining oxygen-neon deflagrations in high-density white dwarfs
• Abundances and Isotope Ratios in the Magellanic Clouds: The Star Forming Environment of N113
• Discovery of a Perseus-like cloud in the early Universe: HI-to-H2 transition, carbon monoxide and small dust grains at zabs=2.53 towards the quasar J0000+0048
• Carbon in Red Giants in Globular Clusters and Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies
• Improved Direct Measurement of the 64.5 keV Resonance Strength in the 17O(p,a)14N Reaction at LUNA
• Probing isotopic ratios at z = 0.89: molecular line absorption in front of the quasar PKS 1830-211
• Chemical evolution of the Milky Way: constraints on the formation of the thick and thin discs
• On Carbon Burning in Super Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars
• The Chemical Compositions of Stars with Planets: A Review
• The binarity of Milky Way F,G,K stars as a function of effective temperature and metallicity
• Gradients of chemical abundances in the Milky Way from HII regions: distances derived from Gaia EDR3 parallaxes and temperature inhomogeneities
• Inhibition of thermohaline mixing by a magnetic field in Ap star descendants: Implications for the Galactic evolution of 3He
• Possible pair-instability supernovae at solar metallicity from magnetic stellar progenitors
• Zero-metallicity hypernova uncovered by an ultra metal-poor star in the Sculptor dwarf spheroidal galaxy
• Probing the existence of very massive first stars
• 123-321 Models of Classical Novae
• Mass loss and yield uncertainty in low-mass asymptotic giant branch stars
• The Gaia-ESO Survey: Galactic evolution of lithium from iDR6
• An evolutionary study of volatile chemistry in protoplanetary disks
• The origin of stellar populations in the Galactic bulge from chemical abundances
• Spectral Line Survey toward Spiral Arm of M51 in the 3 mm and 2 mm Bands
• PAH emission and star formation in the host of the z~2.56 Cloverleaf QSO
• On the radial abundance gradients of nitrogen and oxygen in the inner Galactic disc
• CNO behaviour in planet-harbouring stars. II. Carbon abundances in stars with and without planets using the CH band
• DDO 68: A flea with smaller fleas that on him prey
• Physical conditions of molecular gas in the Circinus galaxy: Multi-J CO and CI 1-0 observations
• Nuclear Bar Catalyzed Star Formation: 13^CO, C18^O and Molecular Gas Properties in the Nucleus of Maffei 2
• The role of faint population III supernovae in forming CEMP stars in ultra-faint dwarf galaxies
• Systematic variation of the 12CO/13CO ratio as a function of star-formation rate surface density
• Light Elements in the Universe
• On mixing at the core-envelope interface during classical nova outbursts
• Radial abundance gradients in the outer Galactic disk as traced by main-sequence OB stars
• On the variation of carbon abundance in galaxies and its implications
• Mapping the Galactic Disk with the LAMOST and Gaia Red Clump Sample VII: the Stellar Disk Structure Revealed by the Mono-abundance Populations
• Chemical and stellar properties of star-forming dwarf galaxies
• Extreme CO Isotopologue Line Ratios in ULIRGS: Evidence for a top-heavy IMF
• A High-Resolution Spectrum of the Highly Magnified Bulge G-Dwarf MOA-2006-BLG-099S
• The Gaia-ESO Survey: Carbon abundance in the Galactic thin and thick disks
• Tagging the Chemical Evolution History of the Large Magellanic Cloud Disk
• Explaining the decrease in ISM lithium at super-solar metallicities in the solar vicinity
• Spectral Line Survey toward a Molecular Cloud in IC10
• Mass Loss via Solar Wind and Coronal Mass Ejections During Solar Cycle 23 and 24
• The impact of the revised ${}^{17}$O$(p,\alpha {)}^{14}$N reaction rate on ${}^{17}$O stellar abundances and yields
• Around the Ring We Go: The Cold, Dense Ring of Molecular Gas in NGC 1614
• CO Multi-line Imaging of Nearby Galaxies (COMING): I. Physical properties of molecular gas in the barred spiral galaxy NGC 2903
• Clues to the Metallicity Distribution in the Galactic Bulge: Abundances in MOA-2008-BLG310 and MOA-2008-BLG311
• The effect of clouds in a galactic wind on the evolution of gas-rich dwarf galaxies
• EMPRESS. VI. Outflows Investigated in Low-Mass Galaxies with $M_{\ast }=10^4-10^7{M}_{\odot }$: Weak Feedback in Low-Mass Galaxies?
• The Status and Future of Direct Nuclear Reaction Measurements for Stellar Burning
• ALMA observations of N83C in the early stage of star formation in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• First interferometric study of enhanced N-fractionation in N${}_2$H${}^{+}$: the high-mass star-forming region IRAS 05358+3543
• VLT/UVES constraints on the carbon isotope ratio 12C/13C at z=1.15 toward the quasar HE 0515-4414
• Carbon, isotopic ratio ${}^{12}$C/${}^{13}$C and nitrogen in solar twins: constraints for the chemical evolution of the local disc
• Unusual Isotopic Abundances in a Fully-Convective Stellar Binary
• Are Faint Supernovae Responsible for Carbon-Enhanced Metal-Poor Stars?
• Spatially Resolved Chemistry in Nearby Galaxies III. Dense Molecular Gas in the Inner Disk of the LIRG IRAS 04296+2923
• The Galactic Nova Rate: Estimates from the ASAS-SN and Gaia Surveys
• A systematic observational study on Galactic interstellar ratio 18O/17O: I. C18O and C17O J=1-0 data analysis
• The Gaia-ESO Survey: Oxygen abundance in the Galactic thin and thick disks
• CHEMOUT: CHEMical complexity in star-forming regions of the OUTer Galaxy. I. Organic molecules and tracers of star-formation activity
• Isotopic ratios at z=0.68 from molecular absorption lines toward B 0218+357
• An enquiry on the origins of N-rich stars in the inner Galaxy basedon APOGEE chemical compositions
• The Solar Heavy Element Abundances: II. Constraints from Stellar Atmospheres
• Underground Measurements of Nuclear Reaction Cross-Sections Relevant to AGB Stars
• Performance Improvements for Nuclear Reaction Network Integration
• Nitrogen evolution in the halo, thick disc, thin disc and bulge of the Galaxy
• The Rate and Spatial Distribution of Novae in M31 as Determined by a Twenty-Year Survey
• 12C/13C ratio and CNO abundances in the classical very old metal-poor dwarf HD 140283