Extracting the Heliographic Coordinates of Coronal Rays using Images from WISPR/Parker Solar Probe

TL;DR

This paper presents a new technique to determine the heliographic coordinates of coronal rays using multi-viewpoint images from WISPR on the Parker Solar Probe, validated against other solar observations and models.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel method for extracting the heliographic coordinates of coronal rays from WISPR images, enhancing solar corona modeling accuracy.

Findings

Successfully determined coordinates of three coronal rays.

Validated the technique against SOHO/LASCO and STEREO-A/COR2 observations.

Compared ray locations with a 3D MHD model of the HCS.

Abstract

The Wide-field Imager for Solar Probe (WISPR) onboard Parker Solar Probe (PSP), observing in white light, has a fixed angular field of view, extending from 13.5 degree to 108 degree from the Sun and approximately 50 degree in the transverse direction. In January 2021, on its seventh orbit, PSP crossed the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) near perihelion at a distance of 20 solar radii. At this time, WISPR observed a broad band of highly variable solar wind and multiple coronal rays. For six days around perihelion, PSP was moving with an angular velocity exceeding that of the Sun. During this period, WISPR was able to image coronal rays as PSP approached and then passed under or over them. We have developed a technique for using the multiple viewpoints of the coronal rays to determine their location (longitude and latitude) in a heliocentric coordinate system and used the technique to determine the coordinates of three coronal rays. The technique was validated by comparing the results to observations of the coronal rays from Solar and Heliophysics Observatory (SOHO) / Large Angle and Spectrometric COronagraph (LASCO)/C3 and Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO)-A/COR2. Comparison of the rays' locations were also made with the HCS predicted by a 3D MHD model. In the future, results from this technique can be used to validate dynamic models of the corona.