Talk:Lyman continuum photons

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A bit of revision

I'm not well informed about astronomical terminolgy. I'm a chemist. But I am going to make a few revisions to this stub in the hope that it adds a bit more clarity. My first objection is to calling Lyc photons a "kind" of photon. The second is less certain: I'm not sure how the term Lyc photon is used. The article makes the contradictory claim that it refers to UV light emitted by stars and the UV light absorbed by (atomic) hydrogen, but this seems to require further clarification. Is it both or either? My guess is it is either. I don't know if the emission mechanism is relevant. That is, is ANY photon emitted from a star above 13.6 eV correctly called a "lyc photon" or must it be emitted from excited hydrogen? My guess is any, including black body, emission qualifies. Clearly any photon having more energy (higher frequency) than the Lyman cut-off can be absorbed - it is NOT limited to UV (although the preponderance of the photons above the cutoff will be UV, in general). (Or perhaps the term is used in the context of the absorption and/or emission spectra of atomic hydrogen?) I also understand that the cross-section between a photon and a hydrogen atom is quite small - meaning that while the atom CAN absorb the photon, it isn't very likely to do so. I'm not sure enough of myself here to add this to the article itself. Also, unless lyc depends on the detection device, or for historical reasons, there's no reason (AFAICS) to limit it to the UV.216.96.79.63 (talk) 21:21, 10 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]