On the Combination of Imaging-polarimetry with Spectropolarimetry of Upper Solar Atmospheres during Solar Eclipses

Qu, Z.Q.; Deng, L.H.; Dun, G.T.; Chang, L.; Zhang, X.Y.; Cheng, X.M.; Allington-Smith, J.; Murray, G.; Qu, Z.N.; Xue, Z.K.; Ma, L.

doi:10.1088/0004-637x/774/1/71

On the Combination of Imaging-polarimetry with Spectropolarimetry of Upper Solar Atmospheres during Solar Eclipses

Qu, Z.Q.; Deng, L.H.; Dun, G.T.; Chang, L.; Zhang, X.Y.; Cheng, X.M.; Allington-Smith, J.; Murray, G.; Qu, Z.N.; Xue, Z.K.; Ma, L.

Authors

Z.Q. Qu

L.H. Deng

G.T. Dun

L. Chang

X.Y. Zhang

X.M. Cheng

J. Allington-Smith

Graham Murray g.j.murray@durham.ac.uk
Senior Research Fellow

Z.N. Qu

Z.K. Xue

L. Ma

Abstract

We present results from imaging polarimetry (IP) of upper solar atmospheres during a total solar eclipse on 2012 November 13 and spectropolarimetry of an annular solar eclipse on 2010 January 15. This combination of techniques provides both the synoptic spatial distribution of polarization above the solar limb and spectral information on the physical mechanism producing the polarization. Using these techniques together we demonstrate that even in the transition region, the linear polarization increases with height and can exceed 20%. IP shows a relatively smooth background distribution in terms of the amplitude and direction modified by solar structures above the limb. A map of a new quantity that reflects direction departure from the background polarization supplies an effective technique to improve the contrast of this fine structure. Spectral polarimetry shows that the relative contribution to the integrated polarization over the observed passband from the spectral lines decreases with height while the contribution from the continuum increases as a general trend. We conclude that both imaging and spectral polarimetry obtained simultaneously over matched spatial and spectral domains will be fruitful for future eclipse observations.

Citation

Qu, Z., Deng, L., Dun, G., Chang, L., Zhang, X., Cheng, X., …Ma, L. (2013). On the Combination of Imaging-polarimetry with Spectropolarimetry of Upper Solar Atmospheres during Solar Eclipses. Astrophysical Journal, 774(1), Article 71. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/774/1/71

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Jul 1, 2013
Online Publication Date	Aug 19, 2013
Publication Date	Sep 1, 2013
Deposit Date	Mar 22, 2016
Publicly Available Date	Jun 21, 2016
Journal	Astrophysical Journal
Print ISSN	0004-637X
Electronic ISSN	1538-4357
Publisher	American Astronomical Society
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	774
Issue	1
Article Number	71
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/774/1/71
Related Public URLs	http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013ApJ...774...71Q