Abstract
DURING an analysis of Orion-2 data derived from a space astŕophysical experiment1, we came across a hot star with a gaseous envelope, SAO077308, of B1e type and nearly ninth magnitude. It is interesting because of an extremely strong emission line at 2,520 Å occurs in its ultraviolet spectrum. Following a series of attempts, the identification of this line with the resonance sextet of neutral silicon (mean wavelength 2,520. Å) seems probable. The components of this sextet, of almost equal strengths, are: 2,507, 2,514, 2,516, 2,519, 2,524 and 2,528 Å; the second of these lines is resonant, the others quasi-resonant in the sense that the lowest levels of these lines are located quite close to the ground level, up to 0.01–0.03 eV. This identification cannot be taken as final and needs further examination. Irrespective of possible closer definitions, however, the very presence of the emission line itself in the spectrum of this star is significant. Regardless of the true nature of the chemical element to which this line belongs, the problem of an anomalous abundance of this element cannot be overlooked. Here we report the further somewhat conventional examination of the abnormal abundance of silicon in the envelope of the star SAO077308.
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References
Gurzadyan, G. A., Kashin, A. L., Krmoyan, M. N., and Ohanesyan, J. B., Astrofizika, 10, 177 (1974).
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GURZADYAN, G., RUSTAMBEKOVA, S. Silicon-rich stellar envelope?. Nature 254, 311–312 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1038/254311a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/254311a0
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Space astrophysical observatory ?Orion-2?
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