Carbon in J0815+4729: Casting A Shadow of Doubt on the Interpretation of CH Absorption in the Most Primitive Stars

Abstract

We revisit the carbon abundance in the primitive iron-poor star J0815+4729 ([Fe/H] $=$ $-$5.49). J0815+4729 is so carbon-enhanced and oxygen-rich that, in addition to CH and C$_{2}$ molecular lines, weaker neutral atomic transitions are measurable in its spectrum, providing a unique opportunity to explore the line formation of C I and O I transitions in such an extremely iron-deficient star. Based on high-resolution spectroscopy and newly constructed atomic models for carbon and oxygen, we present the first investigation to derive carbon and oxygen abundances of this hyper iron-poor star from neutral atomic transitions under non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) conditions. The carbon abundance derived from C I lines is A(C)$_{\rm NLTE} = 8.08 \pm 0.07$, consistent with that inferred from C$_{2}$ lines (A(C)$_{\rm LTE} = 7.96 \pm 0.08$), but around 0.6 dex higher than the value from CH lines (A(C)$_{\rm LTE} = 7.47 \pm 0.17$). Since CH lines are the most commonly-used carbon abundance indicator for extremely metal-poor stars, this result casts doubt on the quantitative interpretation of CH absorption in the most primitive stars. We confirm that J0815+4729 is one of the most carbon-enhanced stars with [Fe/H] $\le$ $-$4.5 known to date. We have also determined A(O)$_{\rm NLTE}$ as 7.25 $\pm$ 0.11, with NLTE corrections of around $-$0.11\,dex. The carbon-to-oxygen ratio of the star is [C/O] $=$ 1.06 $\pm$ 0.11.