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A. Chutjian (Jet Propulsion Laboratory and California Institute of Technology)
Recent results in atomic collision physics of highly-charged ions (HCIs) relevant to new astronomical observations are presented. The atomic phenomena include electron-impact excitation, charge-exchange, optical emissions to yield metastable-level lifetimes, X-ray emission in HCI-neutral gas collisions, and X-ray emission in HCI-surface collisions. Where available, comparisons with theory are given to help establish “ground truth” for the atomic data. The experiment and results of theories can then be applied with known confidence to the astronomical modeling of the rich body of high-resolution absorption and emission spectra being returned from the interstellar medium; and from stellar, solar, and comet atmospheres by telescopes aboard the Chandra, Newton, SOHO, and other NASA-ESA spacecraft. These sophisticated space-borne data require equally high-quality laboratory data to work out conditions of, for example, electron density and temperature, ion density, and ionization fraction in the astronomical plasma. This work was carried out at JPL/Caltech, and was supported through agreement with NASA.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #2
© 2005. The American Astronomical Soceity.