Here are the instructions for making your own personal installation of the `nebular' package: 1) Untar the file in a suitable directory. I will use the directory "/ra/u1/shaw/iraf/source" and the tar file "neb.tar" for this example. % cd /ra/u1/shaw/iraf/source % tar xvpf neb.tar 2) Edit the file "nebular.cl" and change the line: string flbin = "home$source" to give the correct path to the directory with the executable, the ".par" files, etc. If you place the source code in a subdirectory of your IRAF home directory (i.e., where your "login.cl" is found) and call it "source", then the path: "home$source" would be correct, as in the example above. Here are the directions for loading & running the `nebular' package: 1) Start the CL and load TABLES. (Then "cd" to the directory where the software is kept. In fact, it would be best to define an IRAF environment variable to point to that directory.) Using the example directory from 1) above: cl> set flbin = /ra/u1/shaw/iraf/source/ cl> cd flbin$ And don't forget the trailing slash (/) in the "flbin" definition! 2) Define the `nebular' task, and load the package as: cl> task nebular = flbin$nebular.cl cl> nebular 3) Now everything should work during this session. What I do is to put the `nebular' task definitions in my "loginuser.cl" file so I don't have to define it each time at the start of a session. 4) Since the "help" files aren't yet in the help database, you must access the help files directly. To get help on the task `zones' for example, do: cl> cd flbin$doc cl> help zones.hlp fi+ 5) You will find an example & template for the input table in the directory flbin$data. To create a new table, do: cl> cd flbin$data cl> tcreate flux.tab flux.cols flux.dat ----------- UPDATE 5 Aug 94 ---------------- The atomic cross-sections for C II, N III, and O IV were improved. The reference (Blum & Pradhan) is still the same, but we've incorporated fits to the temperature dependence for all of the cross sections, over the entire range of T_e (1000 K to 40,000 K) for which the cross-sections were calculated. This revision should have little effect on line emissivities when T_e ~ 10,000 K, but may give results that differ (from the previous version of this program) by up to 50% for extreme temperatures (i.e., T_e = 2000 K or 30,000). ----------- UPDATE 26 Jul 94 ---------------- The atomic cross-sections for S II were updated at the end of July, 1994. They are now more accurate, and are valid over a much larger range of electron temperature (1000 K to 100,000 K). Unfortunately, this update was not completed in time for the STSDAS V1.3.2 release. Therefore, in order to make use of the new atomic parameters, users will either need to install a personal version of the `nebular' package (per the instructions above) or, **if your version of TABLES/STSDAS has been updated to V1.3.2**, users should have their local IRAF administrator replace the affected files and re-run "mkpkg" on the `nebular' package. The affected files are: nebular$ionic.par nebular$fivel/atom.f nebular$fivel/solve.x nebular$doc/fivel.hlp nebular$doc/ionic.hlp Where "nebular$" is the IRAF logical directory where the `nebular' source code is kept for STSDAS. The easiest way to find that directory is to start up the CL, load STSDAS and the `playpen' package, and type: cl> cd nebular$ cl> path The affected files can be extracted separately from the "tar" file. After replacing the affected files, and re-running "mkpkg" from the "nebular$" directory, be sure that the protections on the resulting executable are set correctly (i.e., world "read" and "execute"), then type "mkpkg install" to move the executable to the stsdas$bin directory. Again, this operation should only be done by the IRAF system administrator at your site. Questions or problems should be directed to the STSDAS HotSeat (hotseat@stsci.edu). ----------- UPDATE 1 May 94 ---------------- Some of the tasks in the new STSDAS `nebular' package have been updated as of 1 May 1994: 1) A bug was fixed in the `abund' task. This bug made it impossible to calculate the correct abundances for any but the first object in the input table of emission line fluxes. 2) The density-sensitive flux ratio for [N I] was changed from I(5200)/I(5198) to its inverse, I(5198)/I(5200). Though this is a departure from the original FIVEL routine, the use of this ratio: 2 4 2 4 D --> S to D --> S 3/2 3/2 5/2 3/2 is now consistent with that for [O II] I(3726)/I(3729), [Ne IV] I(2423)/I(2425), [Ar IV] I(4711)/I(4740), etc. Generally, it should be easier to remember that deriving the density from these closely spaced line pairs involves the ratio of the line with the shorter wavelength to that with the longer wavelength. This change affects the `ntplot' and `temden' tasks, and the `fluxcols' pset. Users will need to "unlearn fluxcols" before running these tasks again. 3) The `ntplot' task was enhanced to include options for plotting the temperature and/or density axes on either a log or linear scale. A new optional parameter "outtab" was added which, if it is not NULL, will write the derived curves to an STSDAS binary table. This makes it MUCH easier to identify the curves on the plot if there are lots of diagnostics available. A publication-quality plot, including labels for the curves, can easily be generated with the `igi' task in STSDAS/TABLES. 4) A new task called `redcorr' was added which will correct fluxes for the effects of interstellar reddening, given the wavelength, the observed flux, the logarithmic extinction at H-beta (4861 Ang), and a choice of interstellar reddening law, which is one of "seaton", "lmc" or "smc". For the moment, only the function derived by Seaton (1979) is available, but the others will be added in the coming months. 5) The `zones' task takes a weighted average of various temperature and density determiniations from various ions. That weighting has been changed in deriving the temperature for the low I.P. zone. The relative weights for T_e from [N II], [S II], and [O II] are now 5:1:1. In effect, the [N II] temperature is now given more weight. As well, the density in the medium I.P. zone is now determined from [Cl III], [Ar IV], and C III], with weights 2:1:1. These averages should be somewhat more reliable, but as always they should be reviewed before using the `abund' task to determine ionic abundances. The `nebular' package (including these updates) will be available to users outside STScI in the next patch release (V1.3.2) of STSDAS, which is scheduled for this spring. Until then, off-site users may obtain this package for personal installation by retrieving the files "neb.tar", "neb.ps" (a description of the package), and "neb.README" (the installation instructions) via ftp from STEIS (stsci.edu). The files can be found in the directory "software/stsdas/temp". ----------------------------