Emission Line Ratios of FE III as Astrophysical Plasma Diagnostics

Sibasish Laha; Niall B. Tyndall; Francis P. Keenan; Connor P. Ballance; Catherine A. Ramsbottom; Gary J. Ferland; Alan Hibbert

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aa7071

Emission Line Ratios of FE III as Astrophysical Plasma Diagnostics

Sibasish Laha, Niall B. Tyndall, Francis P. Keenan, Connor P. Ballance, Catherine A. Ramsbottom, Gary J. Ferland, Alan Hibbert

Physics And Astronomy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Recent, state-of-the-art calculations of A-values and electron impact excitation rates for Fe iii are used in conjunction with the Cloudy modeling code to derive emission-line intensity ratios for optical transitions among the fine-structure levels of the 3d⁶ configuration. A comparison of these with high-resolution, high signal-to-noise spectra of gaseous nebulae reveals that previous discrepancies found between theory and observation are not fully resolved by the latest atomic data. Blending is ruled out as a likely cause of the discrepancies, because temperature- and density-independent ratios (arising from lines with common upper levels) match well with those predicted by theory. For a typical nebular plasma with electron temperature K and electron density , cascading of electrons from the levels ³G₅, ³G₄ and ³G₃ plays an important role in determining the populations of lower levels, such as ³F₄, which provide the density diagnostic emission lines of Fe iii, such as ⁵D₄-³F₄ at 4658 Å. Hence, further work on the A-values for these transitions is recommended, ideally including measurements if possible. However, some Fe iii ratios do provide reliable N_e-diagnostics, such as 4986/4658. The Fe iii cooling function, calculated with Cloudy using the most recent atomic data, is found to be significantly greater at T_e ≃ 30,000 K than predicted with the existing Cloudy model. This is due to the presence of additional emission lines with the new data, particularly in the 1000-4000 Å wavelength region.

Original language	English
Article number	3
Journal	Astrophysical Journal
Volume	841
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aa7071
State	Published - May 20 2017

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
F.P.K. are grateful to STFC for financial support via grant ST/L000709/1. G.J.F. acknowledges financial support from the Leverhulme Trust via Visiting Professorship grant VP1-2012-025, and also support by the NSF (1108928, 1109061, and 1412155), NASA (10-ATP10-0053, 10-ADAP10-0073, NNX12AH73G, and ATP13-0153) and STSciI (HST-AR-13245, GO-12560, HST-GO-12309, GO-13310.002-A, HST-AR-13914, and HSTAR-14286.001). CHIANTI is a collaborative project involving George Mason University, the University of Michigan (USA), and the University of Cambridge (UK).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

Keywords

H II regions
atomic data
planetary nebulae: general
planetary nebulae: individual (NGC 7009)

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science

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10.3847/1538-4357/aa7071

Cite this

@article{6b66360450654af391deb5f49df84d83,

title = "Emission Line Ratios of FE III as Astrophysical Plasma Diagnostics",

abstract = "Recent, state-of-the-art calculations of A-values and electron impact excitation rates for Fe iii are used in conjunction with the Cloudy modeling code to derive emission-line intensity ratios for optical transitions among the fine-structure levels of the 3d6 configuration. A comparison of these with high-resolution, high signal-to-noise spectra of gaseous nebulae reveals that previous discrepancies found between theory and observation are not fully resolved by the latest atomic data. Blending is ruled out as a likely cause of the discrepancies, because temperature- and density-independent ratios (arising from lines with common upper levels) match well with those predicted by theory. For a typical nebular plasma with electron temperature K and electron density , cascading of electrons from the levels 3G5, 3G4 and 3G3 plays an important role in determining the populations of lower levels, such as 3F4, which provide the density diagnostic emission lines of Fe iii, such as 5D4-3F4 at 4658 {\AA}. Hence, further work on the A-values for these transitions is recommended, ideally including measurements if possible. However, some Fe iii ratios do provide reliable Ne-diagnostics, such as 4986/4658. The Fe iii cooling function, calculated with Cloudy using the most recent atomic data, is found to be significantly greater at Te ≃ 30,000 K than predicted with the existing Cloudy model. This is due to the presence of additional emission lines with the new data, particularly in the 1000-4000 {\AA} wavelength region.",

keywords = "H II regions, atomic data, planetary nebulae: general, planetary nebulae: individual (NGC 7009)",

author = "Sibasish Laha and Tyndall, {Niall B.} and Keenan, {Francis P.} and Ballance, {Connor P.} and Ramsbottom, {Catherine A.} and Ferland, {Gary J.} and Alan Hibbert",

note = "Funding Information: F.P.K. are grateful to STFC for financial support via grant ST/L000709/1. G.J.F. acknowledges financial support from the Leverhulme Trust via Visiting Professorship grant VP1-2012-025, and also support by the NSF (1108928, 1109061, and 1412155), NASA (10-ATP10-0053, 10-ADAP10-0073, NNX12AH73G, and ATP13-0153) and STSciI (HST-AR-13245, GO-12560, HST-GO-12309, GO-13310.002-A, HST-AR-13914, and HSTAR-14286.001). CHIANTI is a collaborative project involving George Mason University, the University of Michigan (USA), and the University of Cambridge (UK). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.",

year = "2017",

month = may,

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doi = "10.3847/1538-4357/aa7071",

language = "English",

volume = "841",

number = "1",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Emission Line Ratios of FE III as Astrophysical Plasma Diagnostics

AU - Laha, Sibasish

AU - Tyndall, Niall B.

AU - Keenan, Francis P.

AU - Ballance, Connor P.

AU - Ramsbottom, Catherine A.

AU - Ferland, Gary J.

AU - Hibbert, Alan

N1 - Funding Information: F.P.K. are grateful to STFC for financial support via grant ST/L000709/1. G.J.F. acknowledges financial support from the Leverhulme Trust via Visiting Professorship grant VP1-2012-025, and also support by the NSF (1108928, 1109061, and 1412155), NASA (10-ATP10-0053, 10-ADAP10-0073, NNX12AH73G, and ATP13-0153) and STSciI (HST-AR-13245, GO-12560, HST-GO-12309, GO-13310.002-A, HST-AR-13914, and HSTAR-14286.001). CHIANTI is a collaborative project involving George Mason University, the University of Michigan (USA), and the University of Cambridge (UK). Publisher Copyright: © 2017. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

PY - 2017/5/20

Y1 - 2017/5/20

N2 - Recent, state-of-the-art calculations of A-values and electron impact excitation rates for Fe iii are used in conjunction with the Cloudy modeling code to derive emission-line intensity ratios for optical transitions among the fine-structure levels of the 3d6 configuration. A comparison of these with high-resolution, high signal-to-noise spectra of gaseous nebulae reveals that previous discrepancies found between theory and observation are not fully resolved by the latest atomic data. Blending is ruled out as a likely cause of the discrepancies, because temperature- and density-independent ratios (arising from lines with common upper levels) match well with those predicted by theory. For a typical nebular plasma with electron temperature K and electron density , cascading of electrons from the levels 3G5, 3G4 and 3G3 plays an important role in determining the populations of lower levels, such as 3F4, which provide the density diagnostic emission lines of Fe iii, such as 5D4-3F4 at 4658 Å. Hence, further work on the A-values for these transitions is recommended, ideally including measurements if possible. However, some Fe iii ratios do provide reliable Ne-diagnostics, such as 4986/4658. The Fe iii cooling function, calculated with Cloudy using the most recent atomic data, is found to be significantly greater at Te ≃ 30,000 K than predicted with the existing Cloudy model. This is due to the presence of additional emission lines with the new data, particularly in the 1000-4000 Å wavelength region.

AB - Recent, state-of-the-art calculations of A-values and electron impact excitation rates for Fe iii are used in conjunction with the Cloudy modeling code to derive emission-line intensity ratios for optical transitions among the fine-structure levels of the 3d6 configuration. A comparison of these with high-resolution, high signal-to-noise spectra of gaseous nebulae reveals that previous discrepancies found between theory and observation are not fully resolved by the latest atomic data. Blending is ruled out as a likely cause of the discrepancies, because temperature- and density-independent ratios (arising from lines with common upper levels) match well with those predicted by theory. For a typical nebular plasma with electron temperature K and electron density , cascading of electrons from the levels 3G5, 3G4 and 3G3 plays an important role in determining the populations of lower levels, such as 3F4, which provide the density diagnostic emission lines of Fe iii, such as 5D4-3F4 at 4658 Å. Hence, further work on the A-values for these transitions is recommended, ideally including measurements if possible. However, some Fe iii ratios do provide reliable Ne-diagnostics, such as 4986/4658. The Fe iii cooling function, calculated with Cloudy using the most recent atomic data, is found to be significantly greater at Te ≃ 30,000 K than predicted with the existing Cloudy model. This is due to the presence of additional emission lines with the new data, particularly in the 1000-4000 Å wavelength region.

KW - H II regions

KW - atomic data

KW - planetary nebulae: general

KW - planetary nebulae: individual (NGC 7009)

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Emission Line Ratios of FE III as Astrophysical Plasma Diagnostics

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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