Accurate electron temperatures from radio recombination lines
Abstract
Reliable electron temperatures of H II regions can be derived from individual recombination line observations made at appropriate frequencies (i.e., along the Te/Te-asterisk = 1 band) with an accuracy as high as a few percent. The great advantage of making observations in this well-defined band is that the resulting electron temperatures are virtually model-independent; this band is inert to nebular properties, including density, temperature, geometry, structure, and inhomogeneities. Away from this band, substantial corrections must be made for non-LTE effects, and these can be strongly model-dependent.
- Publication:
-
Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Pub Date:
- November 1980
- Bibcode:
- 1980A&A....91..279S
- Keywords:
-
- Electron Energy;
- Hydrogen Recombinations;
- Radiative Recombination;
- Radio Astronomy;
- Temperature Measurement;
- Astronomical Models;
- H Ii Regions;
- Hydrogen Ions;
- Line Spectra;
- Radio Spectra;
- Spectrum Analysis;
- Astrophysics