Title: Characterisation of blue straggler stars in the 35th anniversary of the International Ultraviolet Explorer

Authors: Carmen Morales, Jose A. Caballero - CAB (INTA-CSIC), Madrid, Spain

Abstract: Sixty years after the discovery of the first blue straggler stars (BSSs) by Allan Sandage, there is still 
no general consensus on their origin. In this poster, we look for spectral features in the wavelength range 
covered by the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE; 115-320 nm) that make different BSSs from normal 
stars. In particular, we have selected 19 bright BSSs in open clusters (e.g. Hyades, Pleiades) with late-O to 
A spectral types and compared them with a large sample of comparison normal stars and 
chemically-peculiar stars of the same spectral types. To accomplish that, we downloaded high-resolution 
INES IUE Newly Extracted Spectra and analysed them in detail. After investigating and comparing the most 
intense lines and features typical in BSSs and peculiar Ap and Bp stars (e.g. silicon, aluminium, berillium, 
boron, gallium), we have found no clear evidence of spectroscopic differences between BSSs and 
normal stars in the IUE spectral range.