ELECTRIC-FIELD STRENGTHS FROM THE SOLAR-12 MICRON LINES

The 12-mu-m and other similar lines in the ATMOS solar spectra are computer-fitted to obtain the emission and absorption components and their relative line center displacement. It is found that the emission peaks agree very well with laboratory wavenumbers and so the displacements are attributed to the absorption components. Interpreted as quadratic Stark shifts due to a quasi-static electric field, the displacements yield electric field strengths on the order of 100 V cm-1, corresponding to an electron density of 10(12) cm-3. Also discussed are properties of these lines such as the widths, the equivalent widths, and the heights of formation of both the absorption and the emission components.