2011A&A...531A.146W

We performed an iron abundance determination of the hot, hydrogen deficient post-AGB star PG1159-035, which is the prototype of the PG1159 spectral class and the GW Vir pulsators, and of two related objects (PG1520+525, PG1144+005), based on the first detection of FeVIII lines in stellar photospheres. In another PG1159 star, PG1424+535, we detect FeVII lines. In all four stars, each within T _eff= 110000-150000K, we find a solar iron abundance. This result agrees with our recent abundance analysis of the hottest PG1159 stars (T _eff= 150000-200000K) that exhibit FeX lines. On the whole, we find that the PG1159 stars are not significantly iron deficient, in contrast to previous notions.