Study of the structure of streamer belts and chains in the solar corona

Abstract

A comparison is made of polarization brightness distributions of the white-light corona based on the data from Mark III (MLSO) with calculated magnetic configurations in the corona (a potential-field approximation) between adjacent coronal holes (or associated open magnetic tubes) with magnetic fields of single polarity. It is shown that in these coronal regions, which were referred to as ‘chains of streamers’ in earlier papers of these authors, magnetic structures in meridional and azimuthal cross-sections typically have the aspect of helmet streamers. The calculated magnetic field configurations under the helmets of chains of streamers have an even number of systems of arched features closely adjacent to each other (unlike the structure of the streamer belt with a neutral line where their number is odd). The height of the helmet top of chains of streamers remains smaller than that of the source surface but changes along the length of the chain and reaches maximum values at the ends of the chain.