Measurements of hyperfine structure in 51V II

We have applied fast-ion-beam laser-fluorescence spectroscopy to measure the magnetic dipole hyperfine structure (hfs) constants of 24 even levels and 31 odd levels in 51V II. These are the first published data for hfs in this ion. These results will be very useful for the measurement of stellar photospheric abundances, studies of the history of nucleosynthesis and the testing of models of stellar interiors. The rather large hyperfine splittings in 51V II significantly affect the saturation and width of absorption lines, and this must be taken into account in order to derive accurate abundances and stellar rotation and micro- and macro-turbulence parameters, as well as to help determine if line blending is occurring.