First stellar abundances in the dwarf irregular galaxy IC 1613

Chemical abundances in three M supergiants in the Local Group dwarf irregular galaxy IC 1613 have been determined using high-resolution spectra obtained with the UVES spectrograph on the ESO 8.2 m Kueyen telescope. A detailed synthetic-spectrum analysis has been used to determine the atmospheric parameters and abundances of O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, La, and Eu. We find the overall metallicity of the stars to be [Fe/H] = -0.67 +/- 0.09 and the age 9-13 Myr, which is in excellent agreement with the present-day values in the age-metallicity relationship model of IC 1613 by Skillman et al. We have found that the three supergiants investigated have a mean [alpha Fe] equal to about -0.1, which is lower than seen in Galactic stars at the same metallicity and is in agreement with the results obtained in other dwarf irregular galaxies. The oxygen abundances are in agreement with the upper values of the nebular oxygen determinations in IC 1613. The abundance ratios of s- and r-process elements to iron are enhanced relative to solar by about 0.3 dex. The abundance pattern of the elements studied is similar to that of the Small Magellanic Cloud, except for Co and Ni, which are underabundant in the SMC. The observed elemental abundances are generally in very good agreement with the recent chemical evolution model of Yuk and Lee.