Several years ago, M. Asplund and coauthors (2004) proposed a revision of the
Solar composition. The use of this new prescription for Solar abundances in
standard stellar models generated a strong disagreement between the predictions
and the observations of Solar observables. Many claimed that the Standard Solar
Model (SSM) was faulty, and more specifically the opacities used in such
models. As a result, activities around the stellar opacities were boosted. New
experiments (J. Bailey at Sandia on Z-Pinch, The OPAC consortium at LULI200) to
measure directly absorbtion coefficients have been realized or are underway.
Several theoretical groups (CEA-OPAS, Los Alamos Nat. Lab., CEA-SCORCG, The
Opacity Project - The Iron Project (IPOPv2)) have started new sets of
calculations using different approaches and codes. While the new results seem
to confirm the good quality of the opacities used in SSM, it remains important
to improve and complement the data currently available. We present recent
results in the case of the photoionization cross sections for Ni XIV (Ni13+ )
from IPOPv2 and possible implications on stellar modelling.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, Conf. on New Advances in Stellar Physics: From
Microscopic to Macroscopic Processe