Global maps of the magnetic field in the solar corona

Zihao Yang, Christian Bethge, Hui Tian, Steve Tomczyk, Richard Morton, Giulio Del Zanna, Scott W. McIntosh, Sarah Gibson, Tanomy Samanta, Jiansen He, Yajie Chen, Linghua Wang

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    125 Citations (Scopus)
    45 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    Understanding many physical processes in the solar atmosphere requires determination of the magnetic field in each atmospheric layer. However, direct measurements of the magnetic field in the Sun's corona are difficult to obtain. Using observations with the Coronal Multi-channel Polarimeter, we have determined the spatial distribution of the plasma density in the corona and the phase speed of the prevailing transverse magnetohydrodynamic waves within the plasma. We combined these measurements to map the plane-of-sky component of the global coronal magnetic field. The derived field strengths in the corona, from 1.05 to 1.35 solar radii, are mostly 1 to 4 gauss. Our results demonstrate the capability of imaging spectroscopy in coronal magnetic field diagnostics.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)694-697
    Number of pages4
    JournalScience
    Volume369
    Issue number6504
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 7 Aug 2020

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