Interstellar iron and manganese - UV oscillator strengths and abundances

Observations of 16 UV resonance lines of Fe II and six of Mn II in five stars are used to derive new f-values for the lines of these species at wavelengths lower than 1300 A. Values of forbidden lines Fe/H and Mn/H are derived. These new values are used to reassess mean depletions and range of variations in depletions for several lines of sight. On an integrated line-of-sight basis, depletions of Fe and Mn show larger variations than P, Cl, or Zn. The mean local depletion forbidden line Fe/H is 1.65, in interstellar gas. One Fe II line, 2366.864 A, has never been detected. Its f-value is shown to be much lower than previously thought. This line is therefore not useful for interstellar studies at the present time. It is suggested that the true wavelength of 1142 A of Fe II, from UV multiplet 10, is 1142.285 A.