Rotation characteristics of the Fe XIV (5303 A) solar corona

Technical Report · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:5871730

Sime, D G; Fisher, R R; Altrock, R C

Synoptic photoelectric observations of the coronal Fe XIV line at 5303 A were analyzed to reveal the rotational behavior of the solar corona as detected in that line. A correlation analysis shows that the average synodic rotation period for a band from 30N to 30S was 27.52 days. Although the lifetimes for features in the Fe XIV corona are slightly less than those for the electron corona, overall, their rotation properties are more similar to the white-light corona than to those of active regions on the Sun with which they are generally thought to be associated. However, there appears to be a significant and time-varying component which shows differential rotation. This component appears during cycle 21 at high 7 or 60/degree/ latitudes in the late ascending phase and moves toward the equator. As the cycle progresses, the component becomes indistinguishable from faster rotating features near the equator and the effect is to produce a net differential rotation intermediate between that of the photosphere and that of the white-light corona. The observations appear to be consistent with the interpretation that the Fe XIV coronal signal arises from the effects of local heating on the large-scale density structure of the corona.

• Research Organization: Air Force Geophysics Lab., Hanscom AFB, MA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5871730
• Report Number(s): AD-A-205764/4/XAB; AFGL-TR-89-0052
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640104* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Solar Phenomena
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ATMOSPHERES
CHARGED PARTICLES
CORRELATIONS
DENSITY
ELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
HEATING
IONS
IRON IONS
MAIN SEQUENCE STARS
MOTION
PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
PHOTOSPHERE
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
ROTATION
SIGNALS
SOLAR ATMOSPHERE
SOLAR CORONA
SPECTROSCOPY
STARS
STELLAR ATMOSPHERES
STELLAR CORONAE
SUN