Observations of electron density in the solar corona during sunspot minimum and global electric currents around the sun

Abstract

The observed difference in electron density between the equatorial plane and the polar direction is compared for three empirical distributions: the Allen distribution, the Saito distribution, and the Saito-Munro-Jackson distribution. It is shown that from 1.5R o to 5R o the observed difference in electron density is sufficient to result in a global azimuthal electric current flow around the sun. The dependence of the calculated current density on the radial distance and solar latitude is discussed.