We report on a new spectroscopic analysis of the very metal deficient star G 64–12 ( [ Fe/H ] = - 3.3 ) , aimed at determining , for the first time , its beryllium content .
The spectra were observed during the Science Verification of UVES , the ESO VLT Ultraviolet and Visible Echelle Spectrograph .
The high resolution ( \sim 48 000 ) and high S/N ( \sim 130 per pixel ) achieved at the wavelengths of the Be ii resonance doublet allowed an accurate determination of its abundance : log N ( Be/H ) = - 13.10 \pm 0.15 dex .
The Be abundance is significantly higher than expected from previous measurements of Be in stars of similar metallicity ( 3D and NLTE corrections acting to make a slightly higher value than an LTE analysis ) .
When compared to iron , the high [ Be/Fe ] ratio thus found may suggest a flattening in the beryllium evolutionary trend at the lowest metallicity end or the presence of dispersion at early epochs of galactic evolution .