An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

1. The temperature of electrons in an interstellar ionized nebula (e.g. in → H II regions and → planetary nebulae) as determined by characteristic → emission lines (optical → forbidden lines or → radio recombination lines).
   

2. In the → solar wind, the temperature derived from the mean → thermal agitation of the electrons. More specifically, electric field receivers on board space probes carry out the spectroscopy of the → thermal noise due to the potential fluctuations produced by the thermal agitation of the electrons, yielding the electron temperature in certain conditions (N. Meyer-Vernet, 2007, Basics of the Solar Wind, Cambridge Univ. Press). See also → proton temperature.

See also: → electron; → temperature.