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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

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Astrophysics and Astronomy

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University of Kentucky

1998

ISM: Abundances

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Temperature Fluctuations In Photoionized Nebulae. Ii. The Effect Of Inhomogeneous Abundances, J. B. Kingdon, Gary J. Ferland Oct 1998

Temperature Fluctuations In Photoionized Nebulae. Ii. The Effect Of Inhomogeneous Abundances, J. B. Kingdon, Gary J. Ferland

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Recent abundance determinations based on recombination lines in several emission-line nebulae yield ionic abundances several times larger than those derived from forbidden lines. These results cast uncertainty over all abundance determinations in such objects. One possible explanation for these discrepancies frequently cited in the literature is the presence of chemical inhomogeneities. We have run a series of photoionization models to examine what effect such inhomogeneities will have on the resulting temperature structure of nebulae. We then derive abundances from these models, utilizing Peimbert's t2 formalism. Our results suggest that, although chemical inhomogeneities may produce nonnegligible biases in abundance determinations …


Temperature Variations And N/O In The Orion Nebula From Hst Observations, R. H. Rubin, P. G. Martin, R. J. Dufour, Gary J. Ferland, J. A. Baldwin, J. J. Hester, D. K. Walter Mar 1998

Temperature Variations And N/O In The Orion Nebula From Hst Observations, R. H. Rubin, P. G. Martin, R. J. Dufour, Gary J. Ferland, J. A. Baldwin, J. J. Hester, D. K. Walter

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Using the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS) and the Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS) on the Hubble Space Telescope, we measured the flux of the N II] (2s2p3 5S2 --> 2s22p2 3P2,1) lines at λvac = 2143.45, 2139.68 Å in the Orion Nebula--the first detection of these lines in an H II region. In order to assess the N+/O+ ratio, we also measured the flux of the [O II] (2p32Po1/2,3/2-->2p34So3/2) lines at λvac …