{kappa}-distributed electrons and OIII em. line

This simple assumption is able to explain the temperature and metallicity discrepancies in H II regions and PNe arising from the different measurement techniques. We find that the energy distribution does not need to depart dramatically from an equilibrium distribution. From an examination of data from H II regions and PNe, it appears that {kappa}>~10 is sufficient to encompass nearly all objects.

We argue that the kappa-distribution offers an important new insight into the physics of gaseous nebulae, both in the Milky Way and elsewhere, and one that promises significantly more accurate estimates of temperature and metallicity in these regions.