Conclusions

It seems that RV Tau variable stars, and stars like them, in globular clusters, show significant over-abundances in both s-process elements, and the light elements Na, & Al. Not only is this true in comparison with the sun, but also compared with neighboring red giant stars. However, there is no sign of the correlation between abundances and condensation temperature, that is seen in field variables, at least for `Field 1' results.

To confuse matters, the results from `Field 2' do not agree with those from 'Field 1'. It is possible that the RV Tau class of variable star harbors a disparate set of variable types, which may account for the differences observed between the studies. It is important, now, to re-study the stars in `Field 1' to determine the s-process element abundances more precisely, and to re-study the `Field 2' in the same manner as the `Field 1' stars, to see if there really is a difference between the two sets of results.

© Copyright Astronomical Society of Australia 1997