An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

A set of nebular → emission line diagrams used to distinguish the ionization mechanism of → nebular gas. The most famous version consists of [N II]λ6584/Hα versus [OIII] λ5007/Hβ. The next two more commonly used BPT diagnostics are [S II] λλ6717,6731/Hα versus [O III] λ5007/Hβ and [O I] λ6300/Hα versus [O III]λ5007/Hβ. These diagrams use strong, optical lines of close proximity in the ratios to limit → reddening and → spectrophotometric effects. They are able to clearly distinguish different classes of → ionization, for example → LINERs from normal → H II regions and → active galactic nuclei.

See also: Baldwin, J. A., Phillips, M. M., Terlevich, R., 1981 PASP 93, 5; → diagram.