A method is presented for solving the coupled statistical equilibrium and radiative transfer equations for the vibrational-rotational transitions in the ground electronic state of CO. The technique is subject to the assumption that the rotational levels within each vibrational level are in LTE. We applied this method to three cool stellar models within its range of applicability and find that the LTE and non-LTE spectra are substantially different for the cooler models.
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Carbon et al. (1976) studied this question.