STEADY, PARTIALLY IONIZED STELLAR JETS

We have computed models of nonadiabatic, high March number, cylindrically symmetric, steady stellar jets. In these calculations, the effects of the nonequilibrium ionization and cooling have been taken into consideration. An extensive study of parameter space (limited to initially overpressured jets) provides a qualitative picture of the different characteristics possible for stellar jets. In particular, we find that for parameters typical of stellar jets, the internal jet shocks produce only a low degree of ionization. This result qualitatively agrees with observations of stellar jets, which typically show a low excitation spectrum.