Collisional effects in the blue wing of the Balmer-alpha line

International audienceIn order to investigate the near wing of the Lyman-α line, accurate line profile calculations and molecular data are both required due to the existence of a close line satellite responsible for its asymmetrical shape. Lyman-α lines observed with the Cosmic Origin Spectograph (COS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) show this peculiarity in the spectra of DBA and DA white dwarf stars. A similar asymmetrical shape in the blue wing can be predicted in the Balmer-α line of H perturbed by He and H atoms. In continuation with a very recent work on the Lyman-α line, where the n = 2 potential energies and transition dipole moments from the ground state were determined, we present new accurate H-He potential energies and electronic transition dipole moments involving the molecular states correlated with H(n=3)+He and their transition dipole moments with the states correlated with H(n=2)+He. Those new data and existing molecular data for H(n=2,3)-H are used to provide a theoretical investigation of the collisional effects in the blue wing of the Balmer-α line of H perturbed by He and H atoms. We note the consequences for the Balmer-α line shape in the physical conditions found in the cool atmosphere of DZA white dwarfs where helium densities may be as high as 10 21 cm −3. This study is undertaken with a unified theory of spectral line broadening valid at very high helium densities

Mission Tara Microplastics: a holistic set of protocols and data resources for the field investigation of plastic pollution along the land-sea continuum in Europe

Abstract The Tara Microplastics mission was conducted for 7 months to investigate plastic pollution along nine major rivers in Europe—Thames, Elbe, Rhine, Seine, Loire, Garonne, Ebro, Rhone, and Tiber. An extensive suite of sampling protocols was applied at four to five sites on each river along a salinity gradient from the sea and the outer estuary to downstream and upstream of the first heavily populated city. Biophysicochemical parameters including salinity, temperature, irradiance, particulate matter, large and small microplastics (MPs) concentration and composition, prokaryote and microeukaryote richness, and diversity on MPs and in the surrounding waters were routinely measured onboard the French research vessel Tara or from a semi-rigid boat in shallow waters. In addition, macroplastic and microplastic concentrations and composition were determined on river banks and beaches. Finally, cages containing either pristine pieces of plastics in the form of films or granules, and others containing mussels were immersed at each sampling site, 1 month prior to sampling in order to study the metabolic activity of the plastisphere by meta-OMICS and to run toxicity tests and pollutants analyses. Here, we fully described the holistic set of protocols designed for the Mission Tara Microplastics and promoted standard procedures to achieve its ambitious goals: (1) compare traits of plastic pollution among European rivers, (2) provide a baseline of the state of plastic pollution in the Anthropocene, (3) predict their evolution in the frame of the current European initiatives, (4) shed light on the toxicological effects of plastic on aquatic life, (5) model the transport of microplastics from land towards the sea, and (6) investigate the potential impact of pathogen or invasive species rafting on drifting plastics from the land to the sea through riverine systems