Exploring Photoionized Iron Plasma: In-Depth Analysis of Spectral Lines and Advanced Techniques

X-ray spectroscopy serves as a pivotal tool in comprehending celestial objects' composition, temperature, and physical properties. Most notably includes the studying of iron emission lines in black hole accretion disks and X-ray binaries. Despite its significance, current databases like NIST and XSTAR lack experimental testing for transition line energies of many astrophysically relevant ions. The advent of new-generation X-ray telescopes (e.g., ATHENA, Arcus, XRISM) underscores the imperative for accurate transition line energies to ensure data fidelity. Sandia National Laboratories' cutting-edge Z machine replicates astrophysical environments, allowing for more precise line identifications. Building upon previous work on photoionized silicon plasma from Cho et al., our research focuses on photoionized iron plasma from the same device, presenting preliminary results and emphasizing advanced techniques such as Gaussian decomposition and derivative spectroscopy in data analysis. This study contributes insights into the intricacies of photoionized iron plasma and enhances our grasp of astrophysical phenomena.