The 1.0-1.3 micron spectrum of LkH-alpha 101

Abstract

Spectrophotometric data were obtained for LkH-alpha 101 in the region from 0.98 to 1.35 microns, completing the spectral coverage of this star from the midoptical to 2.5 microns. The emission lines present in this data set include those of Paschen lines; O I lines, He I 10830; Fe II 9907, 10174, 10490, 10501, 10863, and 11126; and forbidden Fe II line 12567. The Fe II lines display much greater equivalent widts in LkH-alpha than they do in Eta Carinae (the only other object in which this set of Fe II lines was observed), but the strengths of the lines relative to each other are similar for the two star. In LkH-alpha 101, the 1-micron Fe II lines and the O I 8446 and 11287 lines have energy contents equivalent to Pa-beta, signifying that they make an important contribution to the cooling of the circumstellar gas.