Redshifts, Widths, and Radiances of Spectral Lines Emitted by the Solar Transition Region

Abstract

A long-standing problem in understanding the physics of the transition region has been the ubiquitous redshifts of transition region ultraviolet spectral lines relative to chromospheric emission lines, a result known since the Skylab era. Extended spectral scans performed for various regions of the solar disk by the Solar Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation spectrometer on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory contain thousands of line profiles per study and allow a thorough investigation of the redshift phenomenon. In using these data from seven distinct disk areas made in lines spanning the chromosphere to coronal temperature range, we derive a relationship between Doppler wavelength shifts and radiances and a relationship between line widths and radiances. While chromospheric and coronal lines emitted by very bright plasmas may in some cases show pronounced redshifts, transition-region lines predominantly show redshifts everywhere in the quiet Sun and in active regions. In coronal holes, however, they display a reduced shift, which at times altogether disappears. The observations and the findings will be described, and possible explanations will be considered.