Lab Astrophysics
Laboratory astrophysics involves experimental and theoretical efforts that provide
data needed for studies of astronomical environments. Since the 1970s and continuing
today, the research on laboratory astrophysics in the department focuses on atomic
and molecular data for lifetimes and the associated oscillator strengths (or absorption
cross sections) for ultraviolet lines of interest to work on interstellar abundances.
The Toledo Heavy Ion Accelerator (see below) produced many of the data used in analyses of spectra acquired with NASA's Hubble
Space Telescope and the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer. We also obtain data
on oscillator strengths and predissociation rates for photochemical studies of interstellar
clouds, using facilities such as Synchrotron SOLEIL outside of Paris, France.
Faculty working in Laboratory Astrophysics include: Prof. Emeritus Steve Federman.
