Determination of hyperfine-induced transition rates from observations of a planetary nebula
Author
Summary, in English
Observations of the planetary nebula NGC3918 made with the STIS instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope reveal the first unambiguous detection of a hyperfine-induced transition 2s2p P-3(0)o-->2s(2) S-1(0) in the berylliumlike emission line spectrum of N IV at 1487.89 Angstrom. A nebular model allows us to confirm a transition rate of 4x10(-4) sec(-1)+/-33% for this line. The measurement represents the first independent confirmation of the transition rate of hyperfine-induced lines in low ionization stages, and it provides support for the techniques used to compute these transitions for the determination of very low densities and isotope ratios.
Department/s
Publishing year
2002
Language
English
Publication/Series
Physical Review Letters
Volume
89
Issue
28
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
American Physical Society
Topic
- Condensed Matter Physics
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1079-7114