Performance Testing of an Off-Limb Solar Adaptive Optics System

Long-exposure spectro-polarimetry in the near-infrared is a preferred method to measure the magnetic field and other physical properties of solar prominences. In the past, it has been very difficult to observe prominences in this way with sufficient spatial resolution to fully understand their dynamical properties. Solar prominences contain highly transient structures, visible only at small spatial scales; hence they must be observed at sub-arcsecond resolution, with a high temporal cadence. An adaptive optics (AO) system capable of directly locking on to prominence structure away from the solar limb has the potential to allow for diffraction-limited spectro-polarimetry of solar prominences. We show the performance of the off-limb AO system and its expected performance at the desired science wavelength Ca II 8542 Å.