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I Question about the Na-O anti correlation

  1. Jun 5, 2018 #1
    I'm trying to write a research paper in astronomy, and while I was brainstorming ideas, I came across
    supermassive stars and the abundance anomalies of proton-capture elements in globular clusters, such as the C-N, Na-O, Mg-Al and Na-F anticorrelations. I tried searching everywhere for an understanding of this topic, and I simply do not understand what or how these "anticorrelations" work. Thank you
  2. jcsd
  3. Jun 10, 2018 #2
  4. Jun 10, 2018 #3

    stefan r

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    Gold Member

    I understood the basic idea was that one element is abundant(relatively speaking) in the gas cloud that produces the first generation of stars in the cluster. The large stars of that first generation in that cloud burn that element and also produce the second element. They blow the second element into the cloud through stellar winds and supernovae. The second generation of stars born in the cloud show an increase in element number two and a depletion in element number one. We see the small long lived stars from both generations. "Generations" is cycles of starbursts in that cloud/cluster. The entire cloud could have been seeded with metals from other stars.

    The CNO cycle tends to produce more N than C or O. The wind from type B, O, or WR stars would have less carbon and more nitrogen than the original cloud.

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