Observed Solar Spectral Line Asymmetries and Wavelength Shifts Due to Convection

Abstract

Convective motions are manifest in the solar spectrum as slight spectral line asymmetries and wavelength shifts. These have been studied for 311 Fe I lines. Most lines are blueshifted because the larger contribution of blueshifted photons from bright and rising granules statistically dominates over the contribution from dark and sinking intergranular lanes. Fainter lines (formed deeper) show larger blueshifts than strong lines; high-excitation lines usually are more blueshifted (preferentially formed in the hotter granules) and short-wavelength lines are more blueshifted because of increased granulation contrast there. Detailed studies of line bisector behavior as function of line parameters permit the construction of model atmospheres incorporating convective hydrodynamics. The method does not require spatially resolved observations and can be extended to studies of stellar convection.