Detailed Iron-peak Element Abundances in Three Very Metal-poor Stars

We have obtained new detailed abundances of the Fe-group elements Sc through Zn ( Z = 21–30) in three very metal-poor ([Fe/H] ≈ −3) stars: BD+03 o 740, BD−13 o 3442, and CD−33 o 1173. High-resolution ultraviolet Hubble Space Telescope /Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph spectra in the wavelength range 2300–3050 Å were gathered, and complemented by an assortment of optical echelle spectra. The analysis featured recent laboratory atomic data for a number of neutral and ionized species for all Fe-group elements except Cu and Zn. A detailed examination of scandium, titanium, and vanadium abundances in large-sample spectroscopic surveys indicates that they are positively correlated in stars with [Fe/H] ≤ −2. The abundances of these elements in BD+03 o 740, BD−13 o 3442, CD−33 o 1173, and HD 84937 (studied in a previous paper of this series) are in accord with these trends and lie at the high end of the correlations. Six elements have detectable neutral and ionized features, and generally their abundances are in reasonable agreement. For Cr we find only minimal abundance disagreement between the neutral (mean of [Cr i /Fe] = +0.01) and ionized species (mean of [Cr ii /Fe] = +0.08), unlike most studies in the past. The prominent exception is Co, for which the neutral species indicates a significant overabundance (mean of [Co i /H] = −2.53), while no such enhancement is seen for the ionized species (mean of [Co ii /H] = −2.93). These new stellar abundances, especially the correlations among Sc, Ti, and V, suggest that models of element production in early high-mass metal-poor stars should be revisited.