Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Helium-Rich Subdwarf Cpd−20°1123: A Post-Common-Envelope Binary Evolving On To The Extended Horizontal Branch, Naslim N., S. Geier, C. S. Jeffery, N. T. Behara, V. M. Woolf, L. Classen

Physics Faculty Publications

Subluminous B stars come in a variety of flavours including single stars, close and wide binaries, and pulsating and non-pulsating variables. A majority have helium-poor surfaces (helium by number n_He < 1 per cent), whilst a minority have extremely helium rich surfaces (n_He > 90 per cent). A small number have an intermediate surface helium abundance (≈10–30 per cent), accompanied by peculiar abundances of other elements. The questions posed are (i) whether these abundance peculiarities are associated with radiatively driven and time-dependent stratification of elements within the photosphere as the star evolves from a helium-enriched progenitor to become a normal helium-poor sdB star and (ii) whether these phenomena occur only in …