The copper and zinc abundances in stars of galactic sub-structures
Résumé
We have determined abundances of copper, zinc, sodium, and aluminum in the atmospheres of 172 F, G, and K dwarf stars (-1.0 < [Fe/H] < 0.3) belonging to the Galaxy's thin and thick disks and to the Hercules moving group. Our observations were performed with the ELODIE échelle spectrometer on the 1.93-m telescope of the Haute Provence Observatory, with a resolving power of R = 42 000 and signal-to-noise ratio S/N > 100. The Na, Al, Cu, and Zn abundances were derived in an LTE approximation; the synthetic spectrum for the copper lines was calculated taking into account super-fine structure of the lines. We analyzed the abundances of these elements as a function of metallicity [Fe/H] for stars of the thin and thick disks of the Galaxy and the Hercules moving group. The Cu abundances and their trends with metallicity are essentially the same in the three studied sub-structures. The mean Al and Zn abundances for stars of the thin and thick disks differ significantly.