The Chandra iron-L X-ray line spectrum of Capella

An analysis of the iron L-shell emission in the publicly available spectrum of the Capella binary system, as obtained by the High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer on board the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, is presented. The atomic-state model, based on the HULLAC code, is shown to be especially adequate for analyzing high-resolution X-ray spectra of this sort. Almost all of the spectral lines in the 10-18 Angstrom wavelength range are identified. It is shown that, for the most part, these lines can be attributed to emission from L-shell iron ions in the Capella coronae. Possibilities for electron temperature diagnostics using line ratios of Fe16+ are demonstrated. It is shown that the observed iron-L spectrum can be reproduced almost entirely by assuming a single electron temperature of kT(e) = 600 eV. This temperature is consistent both with the measured fractional ion abundances of iron and with the temperature derived from ratios of Fe16+ lines. A volume emission measure of 10(53) cm(-3) is calculated for the iron L-shell emitting regions of the Capella coronae, indicating a rather small volume of 10(29) cm(3) for the emitting plasma if an electron density of 10(12) cm(-3) is assumed.