We report the detection of several absorption lines of neutral phosphorus (P, Z=15) in archival near-ultraviolet spectra obtained with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on board the Hubble Space Telescope. We derive phosphorus abundances or interesting upper limits in 14 late-type stars with metallicities spanning -3.8<[Fe/H]<-0.1. Previously, phosphorus had only been studied in Galactic stars with -1.0<[Fe/H]-1.0, the [P/Fe] ratio decreases toward the solar value with increasing metallicity, in agreement with previous observational studies. In stars with [Fe/H]<-1.0, $=+0.04+/-0.10, which overlaps with the [P/Fe] ratios found in several high-redshift damped Lyman-{alpha} systems. This behavior hints at a primary origin in massive stars.

Cone search capability for table J/ApJ/797/69/stars (Stellar parameters and metallicities (table 4), optical abundances (table 6) and phosphorus abundances (table 7))