Abstract
In this chapter, we move from considering plasmas that are excited by predominantly collisional means to those that are heated by energetic photons coming from a photoionizing source, be it a star, a nucleus of an active galaxy, or whatever. Such photoionization-dominated plasmas are very commonly observed in galaxies and historically, were one of the first to be studied in detail, thanks to their bright and prominent emission line spectra at optical wavelengths.
“How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world”
— Shakespeare (The Merchant of Venice, Act5)
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© 2003 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Dopita, M.A., Sutherland, R.S. (2003). The Theory of Photoionized Regions. In: Astrophysics of the Diffuse Universe. Astronomy and Astrophysics Library. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-05866-4_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-05866-4_9
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-07771-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-662-05866-4
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