Paper
Evolution of the Galaxy and the Birth of the Solar System: The Short-Lived Nuclides Connection
Published Feb 12, 2014 · S. Sahijpal
Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy
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Abstract
An attempt is made, probably for the first time, to understand the origin of the solar system in context with the evolution of the galaxy as a natural consequence of the birth of several generations of stellar clusters. The galaxy is numerically simulated to deduce the inventories of the short-lived nuclides, ^26Al, ^36Cl, ^41Ca, ^53Mn and ^60Fe, from the stellar nucleosynthetic contributions of the various stellar clusters using an N-body simulation with updated prescriptions of the astrophysical processes. The galaxy is evolved by considering the discreteness associated with the stellar clusters and individual stars. We estimate the steady state abundance of the radionuclides around 4.56 billion years ago at the time of formation of the solar system. Further, we also estimate the present ^26Al/^27Al and ^60Fe/^56Fe of the interstellar medium that match within a factor of two with the observed estimates. In contrary to the conventional Galactic Chemical Evolution (GCE) model, the present adopted numerical approach provides a natural framework to understand the astrophysical environment related with the origin of the solar system. We deduce the nature of the two stellar clusters; the one that formed and evolved prior to the solar system formation, and the other within which the solar system that was probably formed. The former could have contributed to the short-lived nuclides ^129I and ^53Mn, whereas, the supernova associated with the most massive star in the latter contributed ^26Al and ^60Fe to the solar system. The analysis was performed with the revised solar metallicity of 0.014.
The origin of the solar system can be better understood by considering the birth of several generations of stellar clusters, which contributed to the short-lived nuclides 26Al and 60Fe.
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