The Absorption Coefficient of the Wing of the Fraunhofer Line 6162A

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Abstract
Observations of the centre-limb variation of the profile of the solar absorption line Ca 6162 have been used to deduce the variation of the ratio of line to continuous absorption coefficients in the line wing as a function of optical depth in the photosphere. To achieve this, the integral equation of transfer was solved by a method due to Plaskett. The damping constant of the line was also deduced as a function of optical depth, and was found to vary from 46 times the classical damping constant at τ = 0.05 to 250 times the classical damping constant at τ = 0.90. The uncertainty due to observational error increases from about 19 per cent at τ = 0.05 to 100 per cent at τ = 0.90. Within these rather large uncertainties the value of the damping constant and its run with optical depth are consistent with what is known experimentally and theoretically about collision damping.

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