Detection of the mercapto radical SH in the solar atmosphere

Abstract

We analyze new high-resolution UV observations of the solar photosphere in the disk center and the limb and report the first detection of SH lines in the solar atmosphere. We perform a synthesis of the solar spectrum including many atomic and molecular lines and find a few relatively unblended SH lines from which we determine the (0, 0) band oscillator strength f00 = 2.2 × 10-3. We conclude that these lines are excellent indicators of the sulfur abundance and isotope ratio in G and K stars.