New High-Altitude Observations of the IR and Visible Solar Corona from the 2017 Eclipse
Abstract
We present current results of solar coronal measurements from airborne observations of the 2017 Great American Total Solar Eclipse using two of NASA's WB-57 high-altitude research aircraft, each equipped with two 8.7-inch telescopes feeding high-sensitivity visible (green line and nearby continuum) and medium-wave infrared (3-5 μm) cameras operating at high cadence (30 Hz) with ∼3 arcsec/pixel platescale and ±3 RSun fields of view. The two aircraft flew along the eclipse path, separated by ∼110 km, to observed a total of ∼7.5 minutes of totality in both visible and MWIR. Our MWIR observations reveal a highly structured corona out to heights as large as 2 RSun, and reveal prominence cavities and cool prominence plasma; complex, hot structures associated with active regions; voids associated with coronal holes; and a variety of other structures that have not been previously observed in this wavelength range. We compare these results to simultaneous observations from wide field-of-view imagers such as the Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) on GOES-16, and spectral measurements from the AIR-Spec, which flew concurrently on NCAR's HIAPER GV, and discuss the relationships, which can help us interpret our observations in this little-studied spectral band. Observations in both visible and MWIR enable groundbreaking studies of high-speed coherent motion - including possible Alfvén waves and nanojets - in the lower and middle corona that could shed light on coronal heating processes and the formation and stability of coronal structures. We review the WB-57 eclipse mission and the current results of analysis on the visible and IR coronal measurements, along with an outlook for future analysis and missions.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFMSH11B..06S
- Keywords:
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- 7507 Chromosphere;
- SOLAR PHYSICS;
- ASTROPHYSICS;
- AND ASTRONOMYDE: 7509 Corona;
- SOLAR PHYSICS;
- ASTROPHYSICS;
- AND ASTRONOMYDE: 7594 Instruments and techniques;
- SOLAR PHYSICS;
- ASTROPHYSICS;
- AND ASTRONOMYDE: 7829 Kinetic waves and instabilities;
- SPACE PLASMA PHYSICS