Astrophysics

pp.16

F.J. Rogers, C.A. Iglesias, "Radiative atomic Rosseland mean opacity tables," Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 79:50768, 1992.

Forrest Rogers (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, Calif.): "Opacity is a measure of how strongly matter impedes the flow of radiation. It plays an important role in determining the internal structure and observable properties of stars. Its quantification is essential for stellar modeling. In general, the more bound electrons an ion possesses, the greater its opacity. As a result of nucleosynthesis, the matter available to form young stars is richer in heavy elements than was the matter that formed old stars. Consequently, young stars have higher opacity in temperaturedensity regions where the heavy elements are only partially ionized, which affects their evolution. "Our paper provides extensive tables of the opacity of stellar matter. Prior to our work, most astrophysical modeling was done using tables produced at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Those tables were...