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Register a new userRestitution of the K and F Components of the Solar Corona from LASCO-C2 Images over 24 Years [1996--2019]
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Antoine Llebaria
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We present a photometrically accurate restitution of the K and F coronae from white-light images obtained over 24 Years [1996--2019] by the Large-Angle Spectrometric COronagraph LASCO-C2 onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). The procedure starts with the data set coming from the polarimetric separation of images of 512 x 512 pixels in which the F-corona and the instrumental stray light are entangled. Disentangling these components proceeds in three stages, each composed of several steps. Stage 1 establishes the distinct variations of the radiance of these components with the Sun--SOHO distance and generate a new data set of median images calculated for each Carrington rotation. Stage 2 achieves the restitution of a set of 36 stray light images reflecting its temporal variation and the periodic rolls of SOHO which started in 2003. Stage 3 achieves the restitution of the F-corona and a time series of daily images is generated. These results allowed us processing the whole set of routine LASCO-C2 images of 1024 x 1024 pixels (approximately 626000 images) and producing calibrated, high resolution images of the K-corona. We extend our past conclusions that the temporal variation of the integrated radiance of the K-corona tracks the solar activity over two solar cycles 23 and 24 and that it is highly correlated with the temporal variation of the total magnetic field. The behaviours of the integrated radiance during the last few years of the declining phases of solar cycles 23 and 24 are remarkably similar, reaching the same floor level and leading to a duration of 11.0 year for the latter cycle, in agreement with the sunspot determination.
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We present an in-depth characterization of the polarimetric channel of the Large-Angle Spectrometric COronagraph LASCO-C2 onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SoHO). The polarimetric analysis of the white-light images makes use of polarized sequences composed of three images obtained though three polarizers oriented at +60{deg}, 0{deg} and -60{deg}, complemented by a neighboring unpolarized image, and relies on the formalism of Mueller. The Mueller matrix characterizing the C2 instrument was obtained through extensive ground-based calibrations of the optical components and global laboratory tests. Additional critical corrections were derived from in-flight tests relying prominently on roll sequences and on consistency criteria, mainly the tangential direction of polarization. Our final results encompass the characterization of the polarization of the white-light corona, of its polarized radiance, of the two-dimensional electron density, and of the K-corona over two solar cycles. They are in excellent agreement with measurements obtained at several solar eclipses except for slight discrepancies affecting the innermost part of the C2 field-of-view, probably resulting from an imperfect removal of the bright diffraction fringe surrounding the occulter.
We present an in-depth characterization of the polarimetric channel of the Large-Angle Spectrometric COronagraph/LASCO-C3 onboard SOHO. The polarimetric analysis of the white-light images makes use of polarized sequences composed of three images obtained through three polarizers oriented at +60$^circ$, 0$^circ$, and -60$^circ$, complemented by a neighboring unpolarized image. However, the degradation of the 0$^circ$ polarizer noticed in 1999 compelled us to reconstruct the corresponding images from the other ones thereafter. The analysis closely follows the method developed for LASCO-C2 (Lamy, et al. Solar Physics 295, 89, 2020 and arXiv:2001.05925) and implements the formalism of Mueller, albeit with additional difficulties notably the presence of a non-axially symmetric component of stray light. Critical corrections were derived from a SOHO roll sequence and from consistency criteria (e.g., the tangential direction of polarization). The quasi-uninterrupted photopolarimetric analysis of the outer corona over two complete Solar Cycles 23 and 24 was successfully achieved and our final results encompass the characterization of its polarization, of its polarized radiance, of the two-dimensional electron density, and of the K-corona. Comparison between the C3 and C2 results where their field of view overlaps shows an overall agreement. The C3 results are further in agreement with those of eclipses and radio ranging measurements to an elongation of about 10 solar radii but tend to diverge further out. Whereas the coronal polarization out to 20 solar radii is still highly correlated with the temporal variation of the total magnetic field, this divergence probably results from the increasing polarization of the F-corona.
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