THE SCANNER FOR PRECISE SPECTROPHOTOMETRY OF THE SUN AS A STAR

The primary shortcomings of existing methods for spectrophotometry of the Sun as a star are discussed. A new observational method is proposed. This method is based on a repeated scanning of the Sun's image while summing the signal of each step across the solar disk. A device for precise spectrophotometry of the Sun as a star has been developed around a double-pass spectrograph. This device and its operation algorithm are described. Errors caused by scanning irregularities and seeing are estimated. Several Sun-as-a-star spectrum line profiles and their bisectors are presented and compared with the same ones from the Kitt Peak FTS solar flux atlas.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]