Height of tracers and the correction of the measured solar synodic rotation rate: demonstration of the method

Abstract

Two large stable solar filaments were used as test tracers to determine the apparent synodic rotation rate as a function of the central meridian distance for several filaments' segments at different heights. An analytic fitting procedure was applied to determine simultaneously the real synodic rotation rate and the height of the traced filament segments. The determined heights were compared with the values obtained from the widths of filament contours on the solar disk and with the values obtained by direct measurements at the solar limb. Furthermore, the obtained rotation rates and heights of the filaments' segments close to the filaments' pivot points were compared with the values obtained using two successive central meridian passages. Finally, sources and scales of errors were investigated and possible implications on the previous studies of the solar differential rotation were considered.