Bibcode
DOI
Merenda, L.; Trujillo Bueno, J.; Landi Degl'Innocenti, E.; Collados, M.
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 642, Issue 1, pp. 554-561.
Advertised on:
5
2006
Journal
Citations
84
Refereed citations
64
Description
The magnetic field is the key physical quantity responsible for the
formation, stability, and evolution of solar prominences (ribbons of
cool dense gas embedded in the hot tenuous corona). Therefore, it is
important to obtain good empirical knowledge of the three-dimensional
structure of prominence magnetic fields. Here we show how the magnetic
field vector can be inferred via the physical interpretation of
spectropolarimetric observations in the He I λ10830 multiplet.
To this end, we have developed an inversion code based on the quantum
theory of the Hanle and Zeeman effects and on a few modeling
assumptions. We show an application to full Stokes vector observations
of a polar crown prominence that, in the slit-jaw Hα image, showed
nearly vertical plasma structures. Our results provide evidence for
magnetic fields on the order of 30 G inclined by about 25° with
respect to the local solar vertical direction. Of additional interest is
that the inferred nearly vertical magnetic field vector appears to be
slightly rotating around a fixed direction in space as one proceeds
along the direction of the spectrograph's slit. While these results
provide new light on the three-dimensional geometry of the magnetic
fields that confine the plasma of polar crown prominences, they also
urge us to develop improved solar prominence models and to pursue new
diagnostic investigations.