Circumstellar Hibonite and Corundum and Nucleosynthesis in Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars

Abstract

We report the discovery of two hibonite grains (CaAl_(12)O_(19)) whose isotopic compositions show that they formed in the winds of red giant and asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. While hibonite is the second major phase (after corundum, Al_2O_3) expected to condense from stellar ejecta with C/O < 1, it has not previously been found. One circumstellar hibonite grain is highly enriched in ^(17)O and slightly depleted in ^(18)O relative to the solar composition and has large excesses in ^(26)Mg and ^(41)K, decay products of ^(26)Al and ^(41)Ca. The inferred initial values (^(26)Al/^(27)Al)0 ≈ 5 × 10^(-3) and (^(41)Ca/^(40)Ca)0 ≈ 1.5 × 10^(-4) of this grain are consistent with models of nucleosynthesis in an AGB star. The other hibonite is enriched in ^(17)O, strongly depleted in ^(18)O, shows no evidence of ^(41)Ca and formed with (^(26)Al/^(27)Al)0 ≈ 2 × 10^(-2). The low ^(18)O/^(16)O and very high (^(26)Al/^(27)Al)_0 may indicate substantial proton exposure during cool bottom processing in a low-mass parent star. The low upper limit on ^(41)Ca/^(40)Ca (≤ 3.2 × 10^(-5)) implies that little or no He-shell material had been dredged into the envelope when this grain formed. We also report isotopic compositions for 12 new circumstellar corundum grains. The compositions of 11 of these grains are consistent with current models for red giant and AGB stars. One corundum grain has extremely high ^(17)O/^(16)O and near-solar ^(18)O/^(16)O and may have formed in a star that was initially enriched in ^(17)O and ^(18)O.

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