Analysis of Transition-Region Emission-Line Profiles from Full-Disk Scans of the Sun Using the SUMER Instrument on SOHO
Abstract
We examine statistical properties of line profiles seen in full-disk observations with the UV spectrograph SUMER on board SOHO. In the SUMER data archive, full-disk data with complete spectral information are available only for wavelength regions including the He I (584 Å), Ne VIII (770 Å), C III (977 Å) and C IV (1548 Å) emission lines. In this paper we will concentrate on C IV and Ne VIII. Collectively these data provide us with the unique opportunity to study the properties of line profiles in the lower and upper solar transition-region beyond what could be achieved with earlier instruments. In particular, these data reveal the center-to-limb behavior of line shifts and line widths for the first time in a statistically meaningful way.
For C IV these data show the well-known redshift of the transition-region lines in the quiet Sun and a clear correlation of the Doppler shift and the nonthermal broadening to the intensity as a characteristic of the network structure. This correlation is not found in the coronal holes. No indications for the network can be found in Ne VIII. For Ne VIII we find a center-to-limb variation of the line shift opposite to C IV, which leads to the conclusion that Ne VIII must be blueshifted at disk center. This also shows the need for a remeasurement of the wavelength of Ne VIII in the laboratory. The center-to-limb variation of the line width leads to the conclusion that the nonresolved motions are not isotropic with a preference for the vertical component. Both lines show a clear signal for an outflow in the polar coronal holes. We discuss the implications of these and other observations for models of the transition-region and corona. The line shift behavior of Ne VIII and other lines from the upper transition-region deserves deeper investigation and probably has pivotal importance in our understanding of the solar transition-region. We are pursuing such work.- Publication:
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The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- May 1999
- DOI:
- 10.1086/307102
- Bibcode:
- 1999ApJ...516..490P
- Keywords:
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- SUN: SOLAR WIND;
- SUN: TRANSITION REGION;
- Sun: Solar Wind;
- Sun: Transition Region