Development and operation of an off-limb solar AO system

An Adaptive Optics system capable of locking-on to off-limb prominence structure has been proven successful. It has been shown to allow for diffraction limited spectroscopy and polarimetry of prominence structure. Spectroscopic data obtained using the Off-Limb AO system have been shown to contain a trove of information regarding the nature of solar prominences. In particular a Rayleigh-Taylor instability was seen in part of this data set. Such instabilities, and the rising plumes that result from them, are thought to be critical clues to the longterm persistence of quiescent solar prominences. This adaptive optics system will allow scientists to come one step closer to understanding the true nature of solar prominences.