Whaling will use the Kitt Peak Fourier Transform Spectrometer to measure transition probabilities for about 4000 spectral lines of neutral iron (FeI). These lines abound in the solar spectrum and in many stellar spectra. Although such measurements have been made for years, the astronomical needs have increased to a point requiring this automated way to measure the lines. Most of our knowledge of stars is derived from their spectra. But the spectra can be interpreted only if we have sufficient knowledge of the atoms that cause the spectral lines. One of the most important atoms is iron because it has many spectral lines in many spectral regions of most stellar spectra. Far too few of the lines are now ready to be interpreted. This award is to support experimental work at the Kitt Peak National Observatory's Fourier Transform Spectrometer in order to measure the properties of about 4000 spectral lines of neutral iron atoms.
