Emission lines of Fe XI in the 257--407 A wavelength region observed in solar spectra from EIS/Hinode and SERTS

TL;DR

This study derives and compares theoretical Fe XI emission-line ratios in the 257-407 A range with solar spectra from EIS/Hinode and SERTS, identifying key density diagnostics and first-time detections.

Contribution

It provides new relativistic calculations of Fe XI emission-line ratios and confirms their diagnostic utility in solar spectra, including first-time detection of the 257.55 A line.

Findings

Fe XI lines at 266.39, 266.60, 276.36 A confirmed in EIS spectra.

The 276.36 A line ratio with 257.55 A serves as an electron density diagnostic.

The 308.54/352.67 ratio varies significantly with electron density, useful for diagnostics.

Abstract

Theoretical emission-line ratios involving Fe XI transitions in the 257-407 A wavelength range are derived using fully relativistic calculations of radiative rates and electron impact excitation cross sections. These are subsequently compared with both long wavelength channel Extreme-Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) spectra from the Hinode satellite (covering 245-291 A), and first-order observations (235-449 A) obtained by the Solar Extreme-ultraviolet Research Telescope and Spectrograph (SERTS). The 266.39, 266.60 and 276.36 A lines of Fe XI are detected in two EIS spectra, confirming earlier identifications of these features, and 276.36 A is found to provide an electron density diagnostic when ratioed against the 257.55 A transition. Agreement between theory and observation is found to be generally good for the SERTS data sets, with discrepancies normally being due to known line blends, while the 257.55 A feature is detected for the first time in SERTS spectra. The most useful Fe XI electron density diagnostic is found to be the 308.54/352.67 intensity ratio, which varies by a factor of 8.4 between N_e = 10^8 and 10^11 cm^-3, while showing little temperature sensitivity. However, the 349.04/352.67 ratio potentially provides a superior diagnostic, as it involves lines which are closer in wavelength, and varies by a factor of 14.7 between N_e = 10^8 and 10^11 cm^-3. Unfortunately, the 349.04 A line is relatively weak, and also blended with the second-order Fe X 174.52 A feature, unless the first-order instrument response is enhanced.