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M 22 (NGC 6656) is a chemically complex globular cluster-like system reported to harbour heavy element abundance variations. However, the extent of these variations and the origin of this cluster is still debated. In this work, we investigate the chemical in-homogeneity of M 22 using differential line-by-line analysis of high-quality (R = 110 000, S/N  = 300 per pixel at 514 nm) VLT/UVES spectra of six carefully chosen red giant branch stars. By achieving abundance uncertainties as low as ∼0.01 dex (∼2 per cent), this high precision data validates the results of previous studies and reveals variations in Fe, Na, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Zn, Y, Zr, La, Ce, Nd, Sm, and Eu. Additionally, we can confirm that the cluster hosts two stellar populations with a spread of at least 0.24 dex in [Fe/H] and an average s-process abundance spread of 0.65 dex. In addition to global variations across the cluster, we also find non-negligible variations within each of the two populations, with the more metal-poor population hosting larger spreads in elements heavier than Fe than the metal-rich. We address previous works that do not identify anomalous abundances and relate our findings to our current dynamical understanding of the cluster. Given our results, we suggest that M 22 is either a nuclear star cluster, the product of two merged clusters, or an original building block of the Milky Way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an abundance analysis of 101 subgiant branch (SGB) stars in the globular cluster M22. Using low-resolution FLAMES/GIRAFFE spectra we have determined abundances of the neutron-capture strontium and barium and the light element carbon. With these data we explore relationships between the observed SGB photometric split in this cluster and two stellar groups characterized by different contents of iron, slow neutron-capture process (s-process) elements, and the α element calcium, which we previously discovered in M22's red-giant stars. We show that the SGB stars correlate in chemical composition and the color- magnitude diagram position. The stars with higher metallicity and relative s-process abundances define a fainter SGB, while stars with lower metallicity and s-process content reside on a relatively brighter SGB. This result has implications for the relative ages of the two stellar groups of M22. In particular, it is inconsistent with a broad spread in ages of the two SGBs. By accounting for the chemical content of the two stellar groups, isochrone fitting of the double SGB suggests that their ages are not different by more than ∼300 Myr. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an empirical s-process abundance distribution derived with explicit knowledge of the r-process component in the low-metallicity globular cluster M22. We have obtained high-resolution, high signal-to-noise spectra for six red giants in M22 using the Magellan Inamori Kyocera Echelle spectrograph on the Magellan-Clay Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory. In each star we derive abundances for 44 species of 40 elements, including 24 elements heavier than zinc (Z = 30) produced by neutron-capture reactions. Previous studies determined that three of these stars (the "r + s group") have an enhancement of s-process material relative to the other three stars (the "r-only group"). We confirm that the r + s group is moderately enriched in Pb relative to the r-only group. Both groups of stars were born with the same amount of r-process material, but s-process material was also present in the gas from which the r + s group formed. The s-process abundances are inconsistent with predictions for asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars with M ≤ 3 M⊙ and suggest an origin in more massive AGB stars capable of activating the 22Ne(α,n)25Mg reaction. We calculate the s-process "residual" by subtracting the r-process pattern in the r-only group from the abundances in the r + s group. In contrast to previous r- and s-process decompositions, this approach makes no assumptions about the r- and s-process distributions in the solar system and provides a unique opportunity to explore s-process yields in a metal-poor environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]