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N.L. Reginald (Catholic University of America), J.M. Davila, O.C. St. Cyr (NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center), J.W. Brosius (Catholic University of America)
We have successfully demonstrated the feasibility of measuring both the coronal electron temperature and its radial flow speed simultaneously at multiple locations in the lower solar corona.
This experiment was conducted in conjunction with the total solar eclipse of 21 June 2001 using multiple fiber optic spectroscopic technique. Here one end of the multiple fibers was located at fixed radii at different latitudes in the focal plane of the telescope. The coronal light gathered by these fibers was then simultaneously fed to a spectroscope.
The required results were obtained by isolating the K-coronal spectrum in the 350-450 nm regions.
Our future plans are to locate fibers along radii to measure the acceleration of the electron flow speed in the lower corona. For this we intend to use this methodology in conjunction with the SolarC coronagraph at the Mees Solar Observatory in Haleakala, Hawaii. This would enable us to overcome the time constraints associated with eclipse observations.
The new design for the spectrograph envisages all reflective optics to minimize scattering, specialized chemical coatings to maximize capture of signal in the 350-450 nm regions and to pass the beam through a polarizer to account for the F-coronal component.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: reginald@stars.gsfc.nasa.gov
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 #2
© YEAR. The American Astronomical Soceity.