Analyses of light-ion spectra in stellar atmospheres.V. Neon I in B stars.

A detailed calculation, allowing fully for departures from LTE, for stars in the range B2 to B5 shows that the neon abundance deduced from LTE analyses is systematically in error by about a factor of five. The results obtained from the simultaneous self-consistent solution of the transfer and statistical equilibrium equations, for a realistic model neon atom, are in excellent agreement with observed Ne I equivalent widths at an abundance of log N(Ne) = 8.0, on the usual scale with log N(H) = 12.0. Thus the long-standing discrepancy between the stellar neon abundance and that found from solar, nebular, and cosmic-ray estimates is removed. Implications for nucleosynthesis and interior opacities are noted. Subject headings: abundances, stellar - atmospheres, stellar - early-type stars