Wavelength variation of p-mode intensity fluctuations

The oscillatory signal in the solar p-mode band has been measured as a function of optical wavelength using a grating spectrometer and Fourier transform spectrometer. The relative intensity fluctuations are found to increase with height in the solar photosphere, while the absolute level of intensity fluctuations in the p-mode band is reduced by about 50 percent in the cores and wings of Ca II H and K, H-delta, and H-gamma compared to the neighboring spectral regions. Thus, these spectral regions of diminished absolute p-mode signal could be exploited as signal references by spectrophotometers while attempting to observe nonradial p-mode oscillations in stars from the ground. High spectral and temporal resolution observations of several unblended lines in the red portion of the visible spectrum show an asymmetry in the relative and absolute p-mode intensity oscillations across the line profiles. The peak in intensity oscillations lies in the blue wing of the lines.