Expert: Philip Stahl - 12/7/2004

Question
I think the doppler shift of the suns emission lines detected on earth should be affected by the earths orbital and daily rotational speed, the suns spin and rotation about its center of mass, as well as flares, oscilations, and "other".Could you give a reference that summarizes these contributions ?

Answer
Hello.

Most general references in astronomy, including first year texts, tend to avoid particulars such as you've described. For example, there may be only a passing reference to "Doppler line broadening" in terms of how a spectral line's width is altered by Earth's rotation, etc.

Perhaps the best overall text that addresses these is: "Astrophysics of the Sun" by Harold Zirin, Cambridge Univ. Press (1988).

For example (p. 399), this is the only text I've seen that notes "the frequent presence of red shifts" associated with H-alpha emissions of flares.  As Zirin goes on to note:

"They indicate the material is moving downward rapidly in the H-alpha region. It suggests that the extremely broad H-alpha profiles come from footpoints where energetic heating is taking place and a shock wave is moving downwards, ionizing and heating the material flow."

In his Chapter 5, "Atomic Spectra", he delves into many aspects of the effects on spectral lines, and the basis for them.

While at a somewhat advanced level (transition probabilities and other refinements are included) the general reader can still extract the core of information needed, to gain understanding of the various ways spectral lines are affected.

I hope that this reference can prove of use to you.