Latitudinal properties of the Lyman alpha and O VI profiles in the extended solar corona
Abstract
We have analysed the latitudinal properties of the profiles of the H I Lyman alpha line at 1215.6 protect Angstroms and of the O VI doublet at 1031.9 protect Angstroms and 1037.6 protect Angstroms in the extended solar corona, between 1.5 R_sun and 2.0 R_sun. Observations have been performed with the UltraViolet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS) on board the ESA-NASA solar satellite SOHO (SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory). The results show that these lines have quite a different behaviour with latitude: the Ly alpha line has larger full width at half maximum (FWHM) values in the streamer region and narrower ones towards polar latitudes, while the O VI lines have a minimum FWHM at the center of the streamer, which almost steadily increases towards polar regions. The observations have been analysed looking also for an interpretation in terms of selective heating mechanisms. The implications of our results for coronal heating theories are also examined. In particular we discuss the possibility for the presence of the ion-cyclotron coronal heating mechanism. Moreover, we point out an interesting correlation between the intensity of the coronal lines and their widths, which may be relevant to the open question of the different morphological features visible in the Ly alpha and O VI lines.
- Publication:
-
Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Pub Date:
- February 1999
- Bibcode:
- 1999A&A...342..592Z
- Keywords:
-
- LINE: PROFILES;
- SUN: CORONA;
- SUN: SOLAR WIND;
- SUN: UV RADIATION