R-process enrichment from a single event in an ancient dwarf galaxy.

Elements heavier than zinc are synthesized through the rapid (r) and slow (s) neutron-capture processes. The main site of production of the r-process elements (such as europium) has been debated for nearly 60 years. Initial studies of trends in chemical abundances in old Milky Way halo stars suggested that these elements are produced continually, in sites such as core-collapse supernovae. But evidence from the local Universe favours the idea that r-process production occurs mainly during rare events, such as neutron star mergers. The appearance of a plateau of europium abundance in some dwarf spheroidal galaxies has been suggested as evidence for rare r-process enrichment in the early Universe, but only under the assumption that no gas accretes into those dwarf galaxies; gas accretion favours continual r-process enrichment in these systems. Furthermore, the universal r-process pattern has not been cleanly identified in dwarf spheroidals. The smaller, chemically simpler, and more ancient ultrafaint dwarf galaxies assembled shortly after the first stars formed, and are ideal systems with which to study nucleosynthesis events such as the r-process. Reticulum II is one such galaxy. The abundances of non-neutron-capture elements in this galaxy (and others like it) are similar to those in other old stars. Here, we report that seven of the nine brightest stars in Reticulum II, observed with high-resolution spectroscopy, show strong enhancements in heavy neutron-capture elements, with abundances that follow the universal r-process pattern beyond barium. The enhancement seen in this 'r-process galaxy' is two to three orders of magnitude higher than that detected in any other ultrafaint dwarf galaxy. This implies that a single, rare event produced the r-process material in Reticulum II. The r-process yield and event rate are incompatible with the source being ordinary core-collapse supernovae, but consistent with other possible sources, such as neutron star mergers.

Linking dwarf galaxies to halo building blocks with the most metal-poor star in Sculptor.

Current cosmological models indicate that the Milky Way's stellar halo was assembled from many smaller systems. On the basis of the apparent absence of the most metal-poor stars in present-day dwarf galaxies, recent studies claimed that the true Galactic building blocks must have been vastly different from the surviving dwarfs. The discovery of an extremely iron-poor star (S1020549) in the Sculptor dwarf galaxy based on a medium-resolution spectrum cast some doubt on this conclusion. Verification of the iron-deficiency, however, and measurements of additional elements, such as the alpha-element Mg, are necessary to demonstrate that the same type of stars produced the metals found in dwarf galaxies and the Galactic halo. Only then can dwarf galaxy stars be conclusively linked to early stellar halo assembly. Here we report high-resolution spectroscopic abundances for 11 elements in S1020549, confirming its iron abundance of less than 1/4,000th that of the Sun, and showing that the overall abundance pattern follows that seen in low-metallicity halo stars, including the alpha-elements. Such chemical similarity indicates that the systems destroyed to form the halo billions of years ago were not fundamentally different from the progenitors of present-day dwarfs, and suggests that the early chemical enrichment of all galaxies may be nearly identical.

Element abundance patterns in stars indicate fission of nuclei heavier than uranium.

The heaviest chemical elements are naturally produced by the rapid neutron-capture process (r-process) during neutron star mergers or supernovae. The r-process production of elements heavier than uranium (transuranic nuclei) is poorly understood and inaccessible to experiments so must be extrapolated by using nucleosynthesis models. We examined element abundances in a sample of stars that are enhanced in r-process elements. The abundances of elements ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, and silver (atomic numbers Z = 44 to 47; mass numbers A = 99 to 110) correlate with those of heavier elements (63 ≤ Z ≤ 78, A > 150). There is no correlation for neighboring elements (34 ≤ Z ≤ 42 and 48 ≤ Z ≤ 62). We interpret this as evidence that fission fragments of transuranic nuclei contribute to the abundances. Our results indicate that neutron-rich nuclei with mass numbers >260 are produced in r-process events.

Nucleosynthetic signatures of the first stars.

The chemically most primitive stars provide constraints on the nature of the first stellar objects that formed in the Universe; elements other than hydrogen, helium and traces of lithium present within these objects were generated by nucleosynthesis in the very first stars. The relative abundances of elements in the surviving primitive stars reflect the masses of the first stars, because the pathways of nucleosynthesis are quite sensitive to stellar masses. Several models have been suggested to explain the origin of the abundance pattern of the giant star HE0107-5240, which hitherto exhibited the highest deficiency of heavy elements known. Here we report the discovery of HE1327-2326, a subgiant or main-sequence star with an iron abundance about a factor of two lower than that of HE0107-5240. Both stars show extreme overabundances of carbon and nitrogen with respect to iron, suggesting a similar origin of the abundance patterns. The unexpectedly low Li and high Sr abundances of HE1327-2326, however, challenge existing theoretical understanding: no model predicts the high Sr abundance or provides a Li depletion mechanism consistent with data available for the most metal-poor stars.