Solar prominences are structures located within the solar corona. The flow of energy within them is through radiative processes and this needs to be studied using radiative transfer, which is dependent upon the radiation entering the prominence. For a full understanding of the radiative processes within the prominence we need to fully account for all the radiation that originates outwith the prominence but still influences it. Previous studies have only looked at the radiation from the disc, this thesis will add to this the radiation from the corona and investigate the effects of this. Chapter 1 introduces the Sun and prominences, to explain the conditions prominences occur in. In chapter 2 radiative transfer is discussed, it is shown where the 1-D form of the radiative transfer equation and the statistical equilibrium equation comes from. Previous studies of prominences using radiative transfer are discussed, and we explain the radiative transfer code which will be modified to include the coronal radiation. To add the radiation from the corona it is necessary to know what the coronal radiation would be visible to the prominence as spectra observed from outside the corona would not be suitable for the light an object within the corona receives and so in chapter 3 the radiation that a prominence within the corona would receive is calculated. The methods for determining the radiation from the corona which would be visible to the prominence are explained. The results for this at various heights are shown, and this shows that there would be sufficient difference between the radiation recevied by prominencies at different heights to justify recalculating the coronal radiation for different heights. The coronal radiation is added to the incident radiation below 912 ĚŠA in chapter 4. The radiative transfer code is modified so that it can receive the light from either individual lines or from many lines averaged over a wavelength range. It is demonstrated that different lines will have different degrees of influence over the ionisation of the prominence by moving an individual test line and so when we addii radiation from lines average over wavelength ranges we take this into account. It is shown that the effects of coronal radiation on the hydrogen in the prominence for iso- thermal iso-baric slabs, and for slabs with a PCTR (Prominence to Corona Transition Region). The coronal radiation is then added to the helium continua in chapter 5. The effects of the coronal radiation on the helium in the prominence for iso-thermal iso-baric slabs and for slabs with a PCTR are shown. The coronal radiation has a significant effect on the condition and emissions of a prominence, and must be taken into account to fully understand the radiative processes of a prominence.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:679570 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Brown, Gerrard Martyn |
| Publisher | University of Glasgow |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://theses.gla.ac.uk/7067/ |
Page generated in 0.0017 seconds