The Chemical Composition of the Sun

TLDR

The solar chemical composition is crucial for understanding the Sun’s formation, structure, evolution, and serves as a reference standard for other astronomical objects. This review evaluates the current understanding of the solar photospheric composition. The authors re‑determine nearly all elemental abundances using a realistic 3‑D, time‑dependent hydrodynamical solar atmosphere model, carefully selecting atomic data, spectral lines, and applying NLTE corrections. The resulting homogeneous compilation shows significantly lower C, N, O, and Ne abundances than decade‑old values, aligns with solar neighborhood and meteorite data, yet conflicts with standard solar interior models inferred from helioseismology.

Abstract

The solar chemical composition is an important ingredient in our understanding of the formation, structure and evolution of both the Sun and our solar system. Furthermore, it is an essential reference standard against which the elemental contents of other astronomical objects are compared. In this review we evaluate the current understanding of the solar photospheric composition. In particular, we present a re-determination of the abundances of nearly all available elements, using a realistic new 3-dimensional (3D), time-dependent hydrodynamical model of the solar atmosphere. We have carefully considered the atomic input data and selection of spectral lines, and accounted for departures from LTE whenever possible. The end result is a comprehensive and homogeneous compilation of the solar elemental abundances. Particularly noteworthy findings are significantly lower abundances of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and neon compared with the widely-used values of a decade ago. The new solar chemical composition is supported by a high degree of internal consistency between available abundance indicators, and by agreement with values obtained in the solar neighborhood and from the most pristine meteorites. There is, however, a stark conflict with standard models of the solar interior according to helioseismology, a discrepancy that has yet to find a satisfactory resolution.