Discovery of New Coronal Lines at 2.843 and 2.853 µm

Abstract

Two new emission features were observed during the 2017 August 21 total solar eclipse by a novel spectrometer, the Airborne Infrared Spectrometer (AIR-Spec), flown at 14.3 km altitude aboard the NCAR Gulfstream-V aircraft. We derive wavelengths in air of 2.8427 ± 0.00009 μm and 2.8529 ± 0.00008 μm. One of these lines belongs to the 3{{{p}}}⁵3{{d}}{}³{{{F}}}₃^{^\circ} \to 3{{{p}}}⁵3{{d}}{}³{{{F}}}₄^{^\circ} transition in Ar-like Fe IX. This appears to be the first detection of this transition from any source. Minimization of residual wavelength differences using both measured wavelengths, together with National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) extreme ultraviolet wavelengths, does not clearly favor assignment to Fe IX. However, the shorter wavelength line appears more consistent with other observed features formed at similar temperatures to Fe IX. The transition occurs between two levels within the excited 3{{{p}}}⁵3{{d}} configuration, 429,000 cm^-1 above the ground level. The line is therefore absent in photo-ionized coronal-line astrophysical sources such as the Circinus Galaxy. Data from a Fourier transform interferometer (FTIR) deployed from Wyoming show that both lines are significantly attenuated by telluric H₂O, even at dry sites. We have been unable to identify the longer wavelength transition.