Work

CLOUDY and the High-resolution Microcalorimeter Revolution: Optical, UV, and X-Ray Spectra of One-electron Systems

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: With the launch of the XRISM microcalorimeter mission, space-based X-ray observations will achieve a record spectral resolving power of R ≡ E/ΔE ∼ 1200. With this resolving power, emission features associated with fine-structure energy levels of some species will be resolved, sometimes for the first time. The plasma code, Cloudy, was not originally designed for high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy and throughout its history did not resolve fine-structure components of Lyman lines. Here, we expand Cloudy to resolve these fine-structure energy levels and obtain predicted X-ray spectra that match the resolution of new microcalorimeter observations. We show how the Lyman lines can be used as column density indicators in the hot X-ray emitting gas in a cluster of galaxies such as Perseus, and examine their sensitivity to external radiation fields and turbulence.

Source: The Astrophysical Journal

DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/adfc6c

Authors: Chamani M. Gunasekera, Peter A. M. van Hoof, Marios Chatzikos, Gary J. Ferland

Institutions: Space Telescope Science Institute, Royal Observatory of Belgium, University of Kentucky

Language: English

Topic: Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena

Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $4,499

Funders: National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration