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Asymmetry of Lines in the Spectra of the Sun and Solar-Type Stars

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Abstract

The asymmetry of the Fe I and Fe II lines in the solar flux spectra has been analyzed using three FTS atlases and the HARPS atlas; it was also analyzed in the spectra of 13 stars using observations on the HARPS spectrograph. Individual line bisectors of each star have been averaged to reduce observation noise. The obtained average bisectors in the stellar spectra are more or less similar to the C-shape well known for the Sun. In stars with rotation velocities greater than 5 km/s, the shape of the bisectors is closer to the slash symbol (/). The curvature and span of the bisectors increase with the temperature of the star. Our results confirm the known facts about the strong influence of rotation velocity on the span and shape of bisectors. The average convective velocity was determined based on the span of the average bisector, which shows the largest difference between the velocity of cold falling and hot rising convective flows of matter. It is equal to –420 m/s for the Sun as a star. In solar-type stars, it grows from –150 to –700 m/s with an effective temperature of 4800 to 6200 K, respectively. For the stars with greater surface gravity and greater metallicity, the average convective velocity decreases. It also decreases with star age and correlates with the velocity of micro- and macroturbulent movements. The results of the solar flux analysis showed that absolute wavelength scales in the FTS atlases coincide to approximately –10 m/s, except for the atlas of Hinkle et al., the scale of which is shifted and depends on the wavelength. In the range from 450 to 650 nm, the scale shift of this atlas varies from –100 to –330 m/s, respectively, and it equals –240 m/s on average. The resulting average star bisectors contain information about the fields of convective velocities and may be useful for hydrodynamic modeling of stellar atmospheres in order to study the characteristic features of surface convection.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am sincerely grateful to Ya. Pavlenko and A. Ivanyuk for providing the observed spectra of stars and would also like to thank the reviewer for important remarks.

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  1. Main Astronomical Observatory, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, 03143, Ukraine

    V. A. Sheminova

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Translated by M. Chubarova

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Sheminova, V.A. Asymmetry of Lines in the Spectra of the Sun and Solar-Type Stars. Kinemat. Phys. Celest. Bodies 36, 291–305 (2020). https://doi.org/10.3103/S0884591320060057

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