Variations of the asymmetry of disk-integrated solar line profiles

Mean line bisector positions were found for the neutral iron line at 5250.2 using disk-integrated sunlight. After correction for the apparent time variation of the instrumental profile, it was found that the mean bisector position was constant during the period from May 1982 to February 1983.The correlation between the total magnetic flux as measured at Mount Wilson and the line asymmetry results of Livingston is not high. In particular, the magnetic flux dropped in 1982, suggesting a large line asymmetry that was not observed. However, the correlation between the 30-day average of the mean magnetic field and Livingston's results is quite high (-0.95), suggesting that the asymmetry of the disk-integrated line profile is related to the old plage regions rather than to the active regions.Now at the Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822, U.S.A.