Coronal structure analysis based on the potential field source surface modeling and total solar eclipse observation

Abstract

We constructed global coronal magnetic fields of the Sun during the Total Solar Eclipse (TSE) 9 March 2016 by using Potential Field Source Surface (PFSS) model. Synoptic photospheric magnetogram data from Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) onboard Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) was used as a boundary condition to extrapolate the coronal magnetic fields of the Sun. This extrapolated structure was analyzed by comparing the alignment of the fields from the model with coronal structure from the observation. We also used observational data of coronal structure during the total solar eclipse to know how well the model agree with the observation. As a result, we could identify several coronal streamers which were produced by the large closed loops in the lower regime of the corona. This result verified that the PFSS extrapolation can be used as a tool to model the inner corona with several constraints. We also discussed how the coronal structure can be used to deduce the phase of the solar cycle.