What is the neon abundance of the sun?

We have evolved a series of 13 complete solar models that utilize different assumed heavy-element compositions. Models that are based upon the heavy-element abundances recently determined by Asplund and coworkers are inconsistent with helioseismological measurements. However, models in which the neon abundance is increased by 0.4-0.5 dex to logN( Ne) = 8:29 +/- 0: 05 [on the scale in which log N(H) 12] are consistent with the helioseismological measurements even though the other heavy-element abundances are in agreement with the determinations of Asplund et al. These results sharpen and strengthen an earlier study by Antia & Basu. The predicted solar neutrino fluxes are affected by the uncertainties in the composition by less than their 1 sigma theoretical uncertainties.