A Method for Determining the Excitation Temperatures of Late-Type Stars.

A simple line-pair method is given for estimating the excitation temperature and level of ionization in stellar atmospheres that does not require defining the continuum or measuring equivalent widths. The method, applied to o Cet near maximum light, gives o, , = 1 98 I 0 14 (p.e.) A comparison of lines of neutral and ionized metals indicates that log P - 4 and hence that H- is not the major source of opacity in the violet region of the spectrum of o Cet near maximum light.