Hinode/EIS measurements of active region magnetic fields

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new diagnostic technique using Hinode/EIS spectral lines to measure the coronal magnetic field in solar active regions, enabling extensive analysis across a large archive of observations.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel method for measuring coronal magnetic fields from existing EIS data, expanding the potential for solar magnetic studies without new observations.

Findings

Demonstrated the technique on various EIS datasets

Identified limitations and ways to improve accuracy

Provided a catalog of suitable EIS observations

Abstract

The present work illustrates the potential of a new diagnostic technique that allows the measurement of the coronal magnetic field strength in solar active regions utilizing a handful of bright \ion[Fe x] and \ion[Fe xi] lines commonly observed by the Hinode/EIS high-resolution spectrometer. The importance of this new diagnostic technique lies in two basic facts: 1) the coronal magnetic field is probably the most important quantity in coronal physics, as it is at the heart of the processes regulating Space Weather and the properties of the solar corona, and 2) this technique can be applied to the existing EIS archive spanning from 2007 to 2020, including more than one full solar cycle and covering a large number of active regions, flares, and even coronal mass ejections. This new diagnostic technique opens the door to a whole new field of studies, complementing the magnetic field measurements from the upcoming DKIST and UCoMP ground based observatories, and extending our reach to active regions observed on the disk and until now only sampled by radio measurements. In this work we present a few examples of the application of this technique to EIS observations taken at different times during the EIS mission, discuss its current limitations and the steps to improve its accuracy. We also present a list of EIS observing sequences whose data include all the lines necessary for the application of this diagnostic technique, to help the solar community navigate the immense set of EIS data and to find observations suitable to measure the coronal magnetic field.