We measured 304 absorption features in the ultraviolet and visible spectra of the star 51 Oph, which is known to have a debris disk with a high inclination. We analyzed the relative populations of atoms in excited fine-structure and metastable levels that are maintained by optical pumping and collisional excitation by electrons, and we found that most of the gas is situated at about 6 au from the star, has an electron volume density 10^5^