Present-day cosmic abundances. A comprehensive study of nearby early B-type stars and implications for stellar and Galactic evolution and interstellar dust models

Aims. A sample of early B-type stars in OB associations and the field within the solar neighbourhood is studied comprehensively. Present-day abundances for the astrophysically most interesting chemical elements are derived. Methods. High-resolution and high-S/N spectra of early B-type stars are analysed in NLTE. Atmospheric parameters are derived from the simultaneous establishment of independent indicators, from multiple ionization equilibria and the hydrogen Balmer lines. Results. Teff is constrained to 1-2% and logg to less than 15% uncertainty. Absolute values for metal abundances are determined to better than 25% uncertainty. The synthetic spectra match the observations reliably over almost the entire visual spectral range. Conclusions. A present-day cosmic abundance standard is established. Our results i) resolve the discrepancy between a chemical homogeneous local gas-phase ISM and a chemically inhomogeneous young stellar component, ii) facilitate the amount of heavy elements locked up in the interstellar dust to be constrained precisely: carbonaceous dust is largely destroyed inside the Orion HII region, unlike the silicates, and that graphite is only a minority species in interstellar dust -, iii) show that the mixing of CNO-burning products in the course of massive star evolution follows tightly the predicted nuclear path, iv) provide reliable present-day reference points for anchoring Galactic chemical evolution models to observation, and v) imply that the Sun has migrated outwards from the inner Galactic disk over its lifetime from a birthplace at a distance around 5-6 kpc from the Galactic Centre; a cancellation of the effects of Galactic chemical evolution and abundance gradients leads to the similarity of solar and present-day cosmic abundances in the solar neighbourhood, with a telltaling signature of the Sun's origin left in the C/O ratio. (ABRIDGED)