Abundance analysis of planetary host stars

Abstract

We present atmospheric parameters and Fe abundances derived for the majority of dwarf stars (north of -30 degrees declination) which are up to now known to host extrasolar planets. High-resolution spectra have been obtained with the Sandiford Echelle spectrograph on the 2.1m telescope at the University of Texas McDonald Observatory. We have used the same model atmospheres, atomic data and equivalent width modeling program for the analysis of all stars. Abundances have been derived differentially to the Sun, using a solar spectrum obtained with Callisto as the reflector with the same instrumentation. A similar analysis has been performed for a sample of stars for which radial velocity data exclude the presence of a close-in giant planetary companion. The results are compared to the recent studies found in the literature.