High-resolution Spectroscopic Study of Dwarf Stars in the Northern Sky: Lithium, Carbon, and Oxygen Abundances

Abstract

Abundances of lithium, carbon, and oxygen have been derived using spectral synthesis for a sample of 249 bright F, G, and K Northern Hemisphere dwarf stars from the high-resolution spectra acquired with the VUES spectrograph at the Molėtai Astronomical Observatory of Vilnius University. The sample stars have metallicities, effective temperatures, and ages between (–0.7 0.4) dex, (5000 6900) K, (1 12) Gyr, accordingly. We confirm a so far unexplained lithium abundance decrease at supersolar metallicities— A (Li) in our sample stars, which drop by 0.7 dex in the [Fe/H] range from +0.10 to +0.55 dex. Furthermore, we identified stars with similar ages, atmospheric parameters, and rotational velocities, but with significantly different lithium abundances, which suggests that additional specific evolutionary factors should be taken into account while interpreting the stellar lithium content. Nine stars with predominantly supersolar metallicities, i.e., about 12% among 78 stars with C and O abundances determined, have the C/O number ratios larger than 0.65, thus may form carbon-rich rocky planets. Ten planet-hosting stars, available in our sample, do not show a discernible difference from the stars with no planets detected regarding their lithium content.