Pickering series

The Pickering series (also known as the Pickering–Fowler series) consists of three lines of singly ionized helium found, usually in absorption, in the spectra of hot stars like Wolf-Rayet stars. The name comes from Edward Charles Pickering[1] and Alfred Fowler[2]. The lines are produced by transitions from a higher energy level of an electron to a level with principal quantum number n = 4. The lines have wavelengths:

  • 4551 Å (n = 9 to n = 4)
  • 5411 Å (n = 7 to n = 4)
  • 10123 Å (n = 5 to n = 4)

The transitions from the n = 6 and n = 8 states overlap with hydrogen lines and are not seen in stellar spectra.

In 1896, Pickering published observations of previously unknown lines in the spectra of the star ζ-Puppis.[3] Pickering attributed the observation to a new form of hydrogen with half-integer transition levels.[4][5] Fowler managed to produce similar lines from a hydrogen-helium mixture in 1912, and supported Pickering's conclusion as to their origin.[6] Niels Bohr, however, included an analysis of the series in his 'trilogy'[7][8] on atomic structure[9] and concluded that Pickering and Fowler were wrong and that the spectral lines arise instead from ionised helium, He+.[10] Fowler was initially skeptical[11] but was ultimately convinced[12] that Bohr was correct,[7] and by 1915 "spectroscopists had transferred [the Pickering series] definitively [from hydrogen] to helium."[1][13] Bohr's theoretical work on the Pickering series had demonstrated the need for "a re-examination of problems that seemed already to have been solved within classical theories" and provided important confirmation for his atomic theory.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Robotti, Nadia (1983). "The Spectrum of ζ Puppis and the Historical Evolution of Empirical Data". Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences. 14 (1): 123–145. doi:10.2307/27757527.
  2. ↑ Lakatos, Imre (1980). "Bohr: A Research Programme Progressing on Inconsistent Foundations". In Worrall, John; Currie, Gregory. The Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes. Cambridge University Press. pp. 55–68. ISBN 9780521280310.
  3. ↑ Pickering, E. C. (1896). "Stars having peculiar spectra. New variable stars in Crux and Cygnus" (PDF). Harvard College Observatory. 12: 1–2. Also published as: Pickering, E. C.; Fleming, W. P. (1896). "Stars having peculiar spectra. New variable stars in Crux and Cygnus". Astrophysical Journal. 4: 369–370. Bibcode:1896ApJ.....4..369P. doi:10.1086/140291.
  4. ↑ Pickering, E. C. (1897). "Stars having peculiar spectra. New variable Stars in Crux and Cygnus". Astronomische Nachrichten. 142 (6): 87–90. Bibcode:1896AN....142...87P. doi:10.1002/asna.18971420605.
  5. ↑ Pickering, E. C. (1897). "The spectrum of zeta Puppis" (PDF). Astrophysical Journal. 5: 92–94. Bibcode:1897ApJ.....5...92P. doi:10.1086/140312.
  6. ↑ Fowler, A. (1912). "Observations of the Principal and other Series of Lines in the Spectrum of Hydrogen". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 73 (2): 62–63. Bibcode:1912MNRAS..73...62F. doi:10.1093/mnras/73.2.62.
  7. 1 2 Hoyer, Ulrich (1981). "Constitution of Atoms and Molecules". In Hoyer, Ulrich. Niels Bohr – Collected Works: Volume 2 – Work on Atomic Physics (1912-1917). Amsterdam: North Holland Publishing Company. pp. 103-316 (esp. pp. 116-122). ISBN 0720418003.
  8. ↑ Kennedy, P. J. (1985). "A Short Biography". In French, A. P.; Kennedy, P. J. Niels Bohr: A Centenary Volume. Harvard University Press. pp. 3–15. ISBN 978-0-674-62415-3.
  9. ↑ Bohr, N. (1913). "On the constitution of atoms and molecules, part I" (PDF). Philosophical Magazine. 26 (151): 1–25. doi:10.1080/14786441308634955.
    Bohr, N. (1913). "On the constitution of atoms and molecules, part II: Systems Containing Only a Single Nucleus" (PDF). Philosophical Magazine. 26 (153): 476–502. doi:10.1080/14786441308634993.
    Bohr, N. (1913). "On the constitution of atoms and molecules, part III: Systems containing several nuclei". Philosophical Magazine. 26 (155): 857–875. doi:10.1080/14786441308635031.
  10. ↑ Bohr, N. (1913). "The Spectra of Helium and Hydrogen". Nature. 92: 231–232. Bibcode:1913Natur..92..231B. doi:10.1038/092231d0.
  11. ↑ Fowler, A. (1913). "The Spectra of Helium and Hydrogen". Nature. 92: 95–96. Bibcode:1913Natur..92...95F. doi:10.1038/092095b0.
  12. ↑ Fowler, A. (1913). "Reply to: The Spectra of Helium and Hydrogen". Nature. 92: 232–232. Bibcode:1913Natur..92..232F. doi:10.1038/092232a0.
  13. ↑ Bohr, N. (1915). "The Spectra of Hydrogen and Helium". Nature. 95 (6–7). Bibcode:1915Natur..95....6B. doi:10.1038/095006a0.

See also

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