A grid of MARCS model atmospheres for S stars

The method is based on the comparison between observed and synthetic photometric indices and spectral band strengths, and has been applied on a vast subsample of the Henize sample of S stars. Our results confirm the old claim by Piccirillo (1980MNRAS.190..441P) that ZrO bands in warm S stars (Teff > 3200K) are not caused by the C/O ratio being close to unity, as traditionally believed, but rather by some Zr overabundance.

The TiO and ZrO band strengths, combined with V-K and J-K photometric indices, are used to select Teff, C/O, [Fe/H] and [s/Fe]. The Geneva U-B_1 and B_2-V_1 indices (or any equivalent) are good at selecting the gravity. The defining spectral features of dwarf S stars are outlined, but none is found among the Henize S stars.

More generally, it is found that, at Teff=3200K, a change of C/O from 0.5 to 0.99 has a strong impact on V-K (2mag). Conversely, a range of 2 mag in V-K corresponds to a 200K shift along the (Teff, V-K) relationship (for a fixed C/O value). Hence, the use of a (Teff, V-K) calibration established for M stars will yield large errors for S stars, so that a specific calibration must be used, as provided in the present paper.

Using the atmospheric parameters derived by our method for the sample of Henize S stars, we show that the extrinsic-intrinsic dichotomy among S stars reveals itself very clearly as a bimodal distribution in the effective temperatures. Moreover, the increase of s-process element abundances with increasing C/O ratios and decreasing temperatures is apparent among intrinsic stars, confirming theoretical expectations.