Polarization of the solar corona in the green line: Contradiction between theory and observations

The main results of polarization observations in the 530.3-nm line and their role in studying the physical conditions, structure, and magnetic field in the solar corona are discussed. A serious discrepancy between the observations and widely-accepted theoretical concepts was revealed: the theory pre...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Astronomy reports 2001-04, Vol.45 (4), p.321-329
Main Authors: Badalyan, O G, Beigman, I L, Livshits, M A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Corona
Dipoles
Emission analysis
Magnetic fields
Polarization
Solar corona
Solar magnetic field
Solar physics
Theoretical analysis
Theory
White light
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Summary:The main results of polarization observations in the 530.3-nm line and their role in studying the physical conditions, structure, and magnetic field in the solar corona are discussed. A serious discrepancy between the observations and widely-accepted theoretical concepts was revealed: the theory predicts that the orientation of the polarization electric vector should be nearly radial, in contradiction with the observational results. In particular, the polarization vectors for both the green line and white-light corona in high-latitude streamers were tangential during the eclipse of July 11, 1991. The dependence of the degree of polarization on the angle between the radial direction and the magnetic-field vector was calculated without any a priori assumptions about the configuration of coronal fields. This theoretical analysis of the polarization-vector orientation for magnetic-dipole emission in the green line are in agreement with results obtained previously in other studies. Some ways to resolve the observed discrepancies are discussed.
ISSN:1063-7729
1562-6881
DOI:10.1134/1.1361325