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Measurement And Interpretation Of Deuterium-Line Emission In The Orion Nebula, C. R. O'Dell, Gary J. Ferland, W. J. Henney

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We present new observations of the deuterium and hydrogen Balmer lines in the Orion Nebula. There is a real variation in the deuterium-to-hydrogen line ratios across the nebula, being greatest in the emission from the largest proplyd (Orion 244-440). We also present the results of a detailed model for the emission of these lines, the hydrogen lines being the result of photoionization and recombination while the deuterium lines are produced by fluorescent excitation of the upper energy states by the far-UV radiation from θ¹ Ori C. Comparison of the observations and predictions of the line intensities shows good agreement, …