MACS for Global Measurement of the Solar Wind Velocity and the Thermal Electron Temperature During the Total Solar Eclipse on 11 August 1999

Abstract

MACS for Multi-Aperture Coronal Spectrometer is a fiber-optic-based spectrograph designed and used to perform global measurement of the solar wind velocity and the thermal electron temperature of the solar corona during the total solar eclipse on 11 August 1999. The motivation for the construction of MACS was provided by the theory formulated by Cram (1976) for the formation of the K-coronal spectrum and a method for determining the radial profile of the thermal electron temperature of the solar corona. Based on this theory a subsequent application was carried out by Ichimoto et al. (1996) using a slit-based spectroscopic study during the total solar eclipse on 3 November 1994. We have modified Cram’s theory to incorporate the role of the solar wind velocity in the formation of the K-corona and have identified wind and temperature sensitive intensity ratios. Instead of a slit-based spectrograph MACS consists of twenty fiber optic tips placed at the focal plane of the telescope and positioned to see different radii and latitudes of the solar corona. Another fiber is placed at the center of the frame and uses the lunar shadow for a measure of the background signal. The other ends of the fibers are vertically aligned and placed at the primary focus of the collimating lens of the spectrograph thus providing simultaneous spectra from all of the fibers. In this first paper (Paper I) we describe our instrument and the obtained coronal spectra. The final and complete results will be presented in Paper II (Reginald and Davila, 2000).