Abstract
Recent R-matrix calculations of electron impact excitation rates for Fe XIII are used to derive the theoretical electron density sensitive emission line ratios R1 = I(318.12 Å)/I(320.80 Å) and R2 = I(256.42 Å)/I(251.95 Å), which are found to be up to 50% different from earlier diagnostics. A comparison of the current line ratios with both solar flare and active region observations, obtained by the Naval Research Laboratory’s S082A spectrograph on board Skylab, reveals generally good agreement between densities deduced from Fe XIII and those estimated from diagnostic line ratios in species formed at similar temperatures. This provides experimental support for the accuracy of the line ratio calculations, and hence the atomic data adopted in their derivation. In Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer satellite (EUVE) spectra the Fe XIII emission lines are found to be severely blended. However, an analysis of these lines measured in the spectra of Procyon and α Cen demonstrates that they still allow very approximate values of the electron density to be inferred. Moreover, it should be possible to increase the accuracy of the measured line fluxes, and hence of the inferred densities, if longer exposures of the stars concerned can be obtained.
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