Xenon in mercury–manganese stars

Previous studies of elemental abundances in mercury–manganese (HgMn) stars have occasionally reported the presence of lines of the ionized rare noble gas Xe ii, especially in a few of the hottest stars with Teff∼ 13 000–15 000 K. A new study of this element has been undertaken using observations from Lick Observatory's Hamilton Échelle Spectrograph. In this work, the spectrum synthesis program uclsyn has been used to undertake abundance analysis assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium. We find that in the Smith & Dworetsky sample of HgMn stars, Xe is vastly overabundant in 21 of 22 HgMn stars studied, by factors of 3.1–4.8 dex. There does not appear to be a significant correlation of Xe abundance with Teff. A comparison sample of normal late B stars shows no sign of Xe ii lines that could be detected, consistent with the expected weakness of lines at normal abundance. The main reason for the previous lack of widespread detection in HgMn stars is probably due to the strongest lines being at longer wavelengths than the photographic blue. The lines used in this work were λ4603.03, λ4844.33 and λ5292.22.