Submission + - The Solar oxygen crisis
Astrophysicist writes: The Astrophysical Journal publishes this week an article about the abundance of oxygen in the Sun. Oxygen (O) is the third most abundant atom in the universe, behind Hydrogen (H) and Helium (He). Most of the H and He was formed in the Big Bang, which means that O is the element most frequently produced by nuclear fusion reactions in the interior of the stars. The solar abundance of O, which is key in Astrophysics because of its use as a calibration reference for other objects, was thought to be well established since the 80s. However, recent evidence indicates that it has been overestimated by almost a factor of two. A revision of the Solar oxygen abundance would have a cascading effect on other important elements, such as Carbon, Nitrogen and Neon, whose abundance is only known relative to that of O. In addition to the impact on the chemical composition of many stars, models of solar interior may require some reworking in order to be consistent with the new data.
