3D Global Coronal Density Structure and Associated Magnetic Field near Solar Maximum

TL;DR

This study reconstructs the 3D coronal electron density and infers magnetic field structures near solar maximum using STEREO data, revealing a tendency for magnetic fields to become radially open below 2.5 solar radii.

Contribution

It introduces a tomography-based method to analyze 3D coronal density and magnetic field structures during solar maximum, providing new insights into coronal magnetic configurations.

Findings

Magnetic fields tend to become radially open below ~2.5 R_sun.

3D density reconstructions help constrain coronal magnetic field models.

Comparison with solar minimum shows structural differences.

Abstract

Measurement of the coronal magnetic field is a crucial ingredient in understanding the nature of solar coronal dynamic phenomena at all scales. We employ STEREO/COR1 data obtained near maximum of solar activity in December 2012 (Carrington rotation, CR 2131) to retrieve and analyze the three-dimensional (3D) coronal electron density in the range of heights from $1.5$ to $4\ \mathrm{R}_\odot$ using a tomography method and qualitatively deduce structures of the coronal magnetic field. The 3D electron density analysis is complemented by the 3D STEREO/EUVI emissivity in 195 \AA \ band obtained by tomography for the same CR period. We find that the magnetic field configuration during CR 2131 has a tendency to become radially open at heliocentric distances below $\sim 2.5 \ \mathrm{R}_\odot$. We compared the reconstructed 3D coronal structures over the CR near the solar maximum to the one at deep solar minimum. Results of our 3D density reconstruction will help to constrain solar coronal field models and test the accuracy of the magnetic field approximations for coronal modeling.