Abstract
The Ambartsumian equation, a linear differential equation involving a proportional delay term, is used in the theory of surface brightness in the Milky Way. In this paper, the Laplace-transform was first applied to this equation, and then the decomposition method was implemented to establish a closed-form solution. The present closed-form solution is reported for the first time for the Ambartsumian equation. Numerically, the calculations have demonstrated a rapid rate of convergence of the obtained approximate solutions, which are displayed in several graphs. It has also been shown that only a few terms of the new approximate solution were sufficient to achieve extremely accurate numerical results. Furthermore, comparisons of the present results with the existing methods in the literature were introduced.