Polarization studies of Zeeman affected spectral lines using the MSFC magnetograph
Abstract
The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) vector magnetograph records polarization images of absorption lines that are sensitive to magnetic fields. A method is presented for analyzing the Stokes spectral-line profiles of a photospheric Fe I absorption line (5250.2 A) which is influenced by the Zeeman effect. Using nonlinear least-square optimization, the observed Stokes profiles are compared with those generated from the theoretical solution of the polarized radiative transfer equations. The optimization process accounts for the spectral convolution of the source and the MSFC vector magnetograph. The resulting physical properties of the active region producing the polarized light are discussed.
- Publication:
-
Polarimetry: Radar, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, and X-ray
- Pub Date:
- 1990
- DOI:
- 10.1117/12.22071
- Bibcode:
- 1990SPIE.1317..356B
- Keywords:
-
- Astronomical Polarimetry;
- Line Spectra;
- Photosphere;
- Solar Magnetic Field;
- Stokes Theorem (Vector Calculus);
- Zeeman Effect;
- Absorption Spectra;
- Image Motion Compensation;
- Least Squares Method;
- Line Shape;
- Instrumentation and Photography