title: X-ray spectroscopy of astrophysical plasmas.
abstract: We provide a qualitative review of key X-ray spectral diagnostics of astrophysical plasmas. We begin with a brief discussion of the two major types of equilibria, collisional ionization and photoionization, and then consider the behaviour of hydrogen-like, helium-like, iron L-shell and iron K-shell transitions for these separate cases. Where possible, we discuss explicit examples using high-resolution spectra acquired by the grating instruments on the Chandra and XMM-Newton observatories.
authors.affiliation: Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, 550 W. 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, USA.
authors.forename: Steven M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kahn
authors.forename: Ehud
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Behar
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kinkhabwala
authors.forename: Daniel W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Savin