Departures from the Saha Equation Under Varying Conditions of Lyman Continuous Opacity.
Abstract
A general method for determining the departure from the Saha equation in a hydrogen atmosphere is presented. The usually stated, vague condition of "high opacity in the Lyman continuum" is not sufficient to insure LTE; departures from LTE may amount to several orders of magnitude even under this condition (Fig. 2). For illustration, application of the method is made to an atmosphere of constant T and n (Fig. 1) and to an approximate chromospheric model (Fig. 3).
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- November 1959
- DOI:
- 10.1086/146783
- Bibcode:
- 1959ApJ...130..941P