2005MNRAS.361..206H

In the spectrum of an emission-line region ejected from the massive star Eta Carinae, called the strontium filament (SrF), forbidden lines from many elements, in particular [SrII] and [TIII], are observed. These lines are strong in this specific region and valuable for plasma diagnostics. Forbidden lines are not easily produced in laboratory light sources and the atomic parameters for these lines can thus not be measured in a straightforward way.

We use a combination of laboratory and astrophysical measurements to determine transition probabilities for the [TIII] lines. Lifetimes for metastable levels in TIII are measured using a laser probing technique on a stored ion beam at CRYRING, MSL, Stockholm. Branching fractions from some of these levels are derived from Hubble Space Telescope/STIS spectra of the SrF. The astrophysical branching fractions are combined with the experimental lifetimes to determine absolute transition probabilities.

We report lifetimes for the TIII levels b⁴P_3/2, b²P_1/2, c²D_3/2and c²D_5/2, in the range 0.29-17 s, and transition probabilities for eight parity-forbidden lines from the levels c²D_3/2and c²D_5/2, along with uncertainty estimates.