Calculated Coronal Magnetic Fields and Their Comparison with the Coronal Structures as Observed during Five Solar Eclipses

1994 ◽  
Vol 144 ◽  
pp. 559-564
Author(s):  
P. Ambrož ◽  
J. Sýkora

AbstractWe were successful in observing the solar corona during five solar eclipses (1973-1991). For the eclipse days the coronal magnetic field was calculated by extrapolation from the photosphere. Comparison of the observed and calculated coronal structures is carried out and some peculiarities of this comparison, related to the different phases of the solar cycle, are presented.

2019 ◽  
Vol 626 ◽  
pp. A67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilpo Virtanen ◽  
Kalevi Mursula

Context. Solar photospheric magnetic fields have been observed since the 1950s and calibrated digital data are available from the 1970s onwards. Synoptic maps of the photospheric magnetic field are widely used in solar research, especially in the modeling of the solar corona and solar wind, and in studies of space weather and space climate. Magnetic flux density of the solar corona is a key parameter for heliospheric physics. Aims. The observed photospheric magnetic flux depends on the instrument and data processing used, which is a major problem for long-term studies. Here we scale the different observations of the photospheric field to the same absolute level and form a uniform record of coronal magnetic flux since the 1970s. Methods. We use a recently suggested method of harmonic scaling, which scales any pair of synoptic observations of any resolution to the same level. After scaling, we use the Potential Field Source Surface (PFSS) model to calculate the scaled magnetic field at various altitudes from photosphere to coronal source surface. Results. Harmonic scaling gives effective, latitudinally dependent scaling factors, which vary over the solar cycle. When scaling low-resolution data to high-resolution data, effective scaling factors are typically largest at low latitudes in the ascending phase of solar cycle and smallest for unipolar polar fields around solar minima. The harmonic scaling method used here allows for the observations of the different data sets to be scaled to the same level and the scaled unsigned coronal flux densities agree very well with each other. We also find that scaled coronal magnetic fields show a slightly different solar cycle variation from that of the nonscaled fields.


1994 ◽  
Vol 144 ◽  
pp. 21-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. B. Gelfreikh

AbstractA review of methods of measuring magnetic fields in the solar corona using spectral-polarization observations at microwaves with high spatial resolution is presented. The methods are based on the theory of thermal bremsstrahlung, thermal cyclotron emission, propagation of radio waves in quasi-transverse magnetic field and Faraday rotation of the plane of polarization. The most explicit program of measurements of magnetic fields in the atmosphere of solar active regions has been carried out using radio observations performed on the large reflector radio telescope of the Russian Academy of Sciences — RATAN-600. This proved possible due to good wavelength coverage, multichannel spectrographs observations and high sensitivity to polarization of the instrument. Besides direct measurements of the strength of the magnetic fields in some cases the peculiar parameters of radio sources, such as very steep spectra and high brightness temperatures provide some information on a very complicated local structure of the coronal magnetic field. Of special interest are the results found from combined RATAN-600 and large antennas of aperture synthesis (VLA and WSRT), the latter giving more detailed information on twodimensional structure of radio sources. The bulk of the data obtained allows us to investigate themagnetospheresof the solar active regions as the space in the solar corona where the structures and physical processes are controlled both by the photospheric/underphotospheric currents and surrounding “quiet” corona.


2003 ◽  
Vol 10 (4/5) ◽  
pp. 313-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Wiegelmann ◽  
T. Neukirch

Abstract. Knowledge of the structure of the coronal magnetic field is important for our understanding of many solar activity phenomena, e.g. flares and CMEs. However, the direct measurement of coronal magnetic fields is not possible with present methods, and therefore the coronal field has to be extrapolated from photospheric measurements. Due to the low plasma beta the coronal magnetic field can usually be assumed to be approximately force free, with electric currents flowing along the magnetic field lines. There are both observational and theoretical reasons which suggest that at least prior to an eruption the coronal magnetic field is in a nonlinear force free state. Unfortunately the computation of nonlinear force free fields is way more difficult than potential or linear force free fields and analytic solutions are not generally available. We discuss several methods which have been proposed to compute nonlinear force free fields and focus particularly on an optimization method which has been suggested recently. We compare the numerical performance of a newly developed numerical code based on the optimization method with the performance of another code based on an MHD relaxation method if both codes are applied to the reconstruction of a semi-analytic nonlinear force-free solution. The optimization method has also been tested for cases where we add random noise to the perfect boundary conditions of the analytic solution, in this way mimicking the more realistic case where the boundary conditions are given by vector magnetogram data. We find that the convergence properties of the optimization method are affected by adding noise to the boundary data and we discuss possibilities to overcome this difficulty.


2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (S300) ◽  
pp. 139-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Gibson

AbstractMagnetism defines the complex and dynamic solar corona. Twists and tangles in coronal magnetic fields build up energy and ultimately erupt, hurling plasma into interplanetary space. These coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are transient riders on the ever-outflowing solar wind, which itself possesses a three-dimensional morphology shaped by the global coronal magnetic field. Coronal magnetism is thus at the heart of any understanding of the origins of space weather at the Earth. However, we have historically been limited by the difficulty of directly measuring the magnetic fields of the corona, and have turned to observations of coronal plasma to trace out magnetic structure. This approach is complicated by the fact that plasma temperatures and densities vary among coronal magnetic structures, so that looking at any one wavelength of light only shows part of the picture. In fact, in some regimes it is the lack of plasma that is a significant indicator of the magnetic field. Such a case is the coronal cavity: a dark, elliptical region in which strong and twisted magnetism dwells. I will elucidate these enigmatic features by presenting observations of coronal cavities in multiple wavelengths and from a variety of observing vantages, including unprecedented coronal magnetic field measurements now being obtained by the Coronal Multichannel Polarimeter (CoMP). These observations demonstrate the presence of twisted magnetic fields within cavities, and also provide clues to how and why cavities ultimately erupt as CMEs.


1968 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 379-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Newkirk ◽  
M. D. Altschuler ◽  
J. Harvey

A current-free approximation to the coronal magnetic field is calculated from measured photospheric magnetic fields (Mt. Wilson) and traced by computer. The calculated field structure is then compared to a white-light photograph of the November 12, 1966 eclipse.


1977 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 17-17
Author(s):  
R. M. McQueen

Observations of the solar equatorial electron scattered coronal radiance made during the Skylab mission show characteristics which dramatically differ with time. The results may be interpreted as indicating a general simplification of the coronal magnetic field, and, in comparison with harmonic analysis of observed solar surface magnetic fields, as indicating a rapid response of outer coronal structures to abrupt changes in the global solar surface field structure.


1993 ◽  
Vol 141 ◽  
pp. 302-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
V.M. Bogod ◽  
G.B. Gelfreikh ◽  
B.I. Ryabov ◽  
S.R. Hafizov

AbstractWe present preliminary results of radio observations of the Sun with the Panoramic Analyzer of the Spectrum (21 channels in 1.8 – 8.2 cm wavelength range) of the radio telescope RATAN-600. Observations on 1992 January 9 – 10 have shown double inversion of the sign of a local source through the microwave wavelength range with fine spectral structure. This phenomenon can be treated as a result of mode coupling when the electromagnetic wave crosses two regions of quasi-transverse propagation (QT-region). Using this treatment we have found the strength of the coronal magnetic field at a number of points in the corona above an active region. The results also imply that trans-equatorial coronal arches affect the structure of magnetic fields at heights of about 3 . 1010 cm with B ~ 5 – 10 G.


1994 ◽  
Vol 144 ◽  
pp. 29-33
Author(s):  
P. Ambrož

AbstractThe large-scale coronal structures observed during the sporadically visible solar eclipses were compared with the numerically extrapolated field-line structures of coronal magnetic field. A characteristic relationship between the observed structures of coronal plasma and the magnetic field line configurations was determined. The long-term evolution of large scale coronal structures inferred from photospheric magnetic observations in the course of 11- and 22-year solar cycles is described.Some known parameters, such as the source surface radius, or coronal rotation rate are discussed and actually interpreted. A relation between the large-scale photospheric magnetic field evolution and the coronal structure rearrangement is demonstrated.


2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (S320) ◽  
pp. 167-174
Author(s):  
M. S. Wheatland ◽  
S. A. Gilchrist

AbstractWe review nonlinear force-free field (NLFFF) modeling of magnetic fields in active regions. The NLFFF model (in which the electric current density is parallel to the magnetic field) is often adopted to describe the coronal magnetic field, and numerical solutions to the model are constructed based on photospheric vector magnetogram boundary data. Comparative tests of NLFFF codes on sets of boundary data have revealed significant problems, in particular associated with the inconsistency of the model and the data. Nevertheless NLFFF modeling is often applied, in particular to flare-productive active regions. We examine the results, and discuss their reliability.


1971 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 609-615 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Daigne ◽  
M. F. Lantos-Jarry ◽  
M. Pick

It is possible to deduce information concerning large scale coronal magnetic field patterns from the knowledge of the location of radioburst sources.As the method concerns active centers responsible for corpuscular emission, the knowledge of these structures may have important implications in the understanding of corpuscular propagation in the corona and in the interplanetary medium.


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