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Session 107 - Radio Astronomy and VLBI Instruments.
Display session, Thursday, January 16
Metropolitan Ballroom,
A flexible and extensible software package for two dimensional nebular analyses has been implemented using Visual Basic within Microsoft Excel (version 5). From a calibrated list of fluxes and errors for each spectral row (or object), the program first identifies the lines by their source ions by referring to wavelengths generated from atomic data. The atomic data used in all the calculations is easily updated or augmented by the user. Colour excesses can be computed from a reddening law and ratio of total to selective extinction of a user's choice. For each spectral row, line fluxes can be corrected for stellar absorption and reddening and reported in a format suitable for publication. Temperatures, densities, emission coefficients, and ionic abundances are computed using an adaptation of the FIVEL five-level atom routine. The user has complete control over which spectral lines are used in an analysis -- there are no pre-ordained methods. Abundance analyses can be performed using physical conditions either measured or specified for each spectrum. Since the software is embedded in Microsoft Excel, graphical representations of the data are easily created, and extended analyses using the full functionality of the spreadsheet are easily implemented.
