The Herschel SPIRE Fourier Transform Spectrometer Spectral Feature Finder IV. Neutral Carbon Detection in the SPIRE FTS Spectra

TL;DR

This paper presents an automated routine for detecting neutral carbon emission lines in Herschel SPIRE FTS spectra, addressing challenges of low amplitude and line blending in astrophysical data.

Contribution

The paper introduces and validates a new sub-routine within the spectral feature finder specifically designed for neutral carbon line detection in SPIRE FTS spectra.

Findings

Successfully detects neutral carbon lines in complex spectra

Improves automation in spectral feature identification

Addresses low signal amplitude and line blending issues

Abstract

The SPIRE FTS Spectral Feature Finder (FF), developed within the Herschel Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) instrument team, is an automated spectral feature fitting routine that attempts to find significant features in SPIRE FTS spectra. The $^3$P$_1$ - $^3$P$_0$ and $^3$P$_2$ - $^3$P$_1$ neutral carbon fine structure lines are common features in carbon rich far-infrared astrophysical sources. These features can be difficult to detect using an automated feature detection routine due to their typically low amplitude and line blending. In this paper we describe and validate the FF sub-routine designed to detect the neutral carbon emission observed in SPIRE spectral data.