Fe I Line Asymmetries and Shifts Caused by Pressure Broadening

Abstract

In order to test the validity of the usual neglect of pressure line shifts in investigations of Fe I line asymmetries and shifts, we calculated synthetic line bisectors and shifts of 96 moderate and weak photospheric lines, taking into account both hydrogen- and electron-impact shifts and neglecting the velocity fields. Absolute pressure line shifts obtained are less than or appr. equal to 50 m/s and the largest relative shifts along the bisectors are about 40 m/s. We found pronounced dependences of both shifts and bisectors on the energy of the upper level in transitions and on the transition array.