Vanadium abundances in early A stars.

Vanadium-to-hydrogen ratios have been determined for Omicron Peg, HR 6127, HR 465 (rare-earth minimum), and HR 8216. With respect to the solar system, vanadium is overabundant in the first two stars, possibly normal in the third, and underabundant in the fourth. The range in the V/H ratio in these four stars is between one and two orders of magnitude. An intercomparison of the four spectra shows that the strong V II lines occur in the stars with weaker Cr and Fe spectra. The vanadium anomaly is thus suggestive of the well-known calcium anomaly in peculiar A stars, but the vanadium and calcium abundances are not believed to be closely correlated.