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Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Series

2009

ISM: abundances

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Physics

Fluorescent Excitation Of Balmer Lines In Gaseous Nebulae: Case D, V. Luridiana, S. Simón-Díaz, M. Cerviño, R. M. González Delgado, R. L. Porter, Gary J. Ferland Feb 2009

Fluorescent Excitation Of Balmer Lines In Gaseous Nebulae: Case D, V. Luridiana, S. Simón-Díaz, M. Cerviño, R. M. González Delgado, R. L. Porter, Gary J. Ferland

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Nonionizing stellar continua are a potential source of photons for continuum pumping in the hydrogen Lyman transitions. In the environments where these transitions are optically thick, de-excitation occurs through higher series lines. As a result, the emitted flux in the affected lines has a fluorescent contribution in addition to the usual recombination one; in particular, Balmer emissivities are systematically enhanced above case B predictions. The effectiveness of such a mechanism in H II regions and the adequacy of photoionization models as a tool to study it are the two main focuses of this work. We find that photoionization models of …


Properties Of Warm Absorbers In Active Galaxies: A Systematic Stability Curve Analysis, Susmita Chakravorty, Ajit K. Kembhavi, Martin Elvis, Gary J. Ferland Jan 2009

Properties Of Warm Absorbers In Active Galaxies: A Systematic Stability Curve Analysis, Susmita Chakravorty, Ajit K. Kembhavi, Martin Elvis, Gary J. Ferland

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Signatures of warm absorbers are seen in soft X-ray spectra of about half of all type 1 Seyfert galaxies observed and in some quasars and blazars. We use the thermal equilibrium curve to study the influence of the shape of the ionizing continuum, density and the chemical composition of the absorbing gas on the existence and nature of the warm absorbers. We describe circumstances in which a stable warm absorber can exist as a multiphase medium or one with continuous variation in pressure. In particular, we find the following results: (i) the warm absorber exists only if the spectral index …