2006/10/27 by Adam G. Jensen, B. L. Rachford, Brian L. Rachford +1 · 2 citations
Chemistry · Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Abundance (ecology) #Analytical Chemistry (journal) #Astro and Planetary Science #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Chemistry #Chromatography #Gas phase #Line (geometry) #Line-of-sight #Mathematics #Nitrogen #Optics #Physics #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #Thermodynamics #Ultraviolet #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/509096
published as Astrophys.J.654:955-970,2007 · Accepted in The Astrophysical Journal, 9/2006 (expected pub. date: 1/2007) 38 pages, 5 figures (4 color)
arxiv created 2006/10/27 · openalex publication_date 2007/01/10 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We report on the abundance of interstellar neutral nitrogen (N I) for 30 sight lines, using data from the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer ( FUSE ) and the Hubble Space Telescope ( HST ). N I column densities are derived by measuring the equivalent widths of several ultraviolet absorption lines and subsequently fitting those to a curve of growth. We find a mean interstellar N/H of 51 ± 4 ppm. This is below the mean found by Meyer et al. of 62 ppm (adjusted for a difference in f -values). Our mean N/H is similar, however, to the ( f -value adjusted) mean of 51 ± 3 ppm found by Knauth et al. for a larger sample of sight lines with larger hydrogen column densities comparable to those in this study. We discuss the question of whether or not nitrogen shows increased gas-phase depletion in lines of sight with column densities log N (H tot ) ≳ 21, as claimed by Knauth et al. The nitrogen abundance in the line of sight toward HD 152236 is particularly interesting. We derive very small N/H and N/O ratios for this line of sight that may support a previous suggestion that members of the Sco OB1 association formed from an N-deficient region.