Issue A&A Volume 450, Number 1, April IV 2006 Page(s) 375 - 381 Section The Sun DOI 10.1051/0004-6361:20053619

A&A 450, 375-381 (2006)
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20053619

The relationship between magnetic field strength and loop lengths in solar coronal active regions

R. Jain¹ and C. H. Mandrini<sup>2

1</sup>  Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Sheffield, S3 7RH, UK
    e-mail: R.Jain@sheffield.ac.uk
²  Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio, CONICET-UBA, CC. 67 Suc. 28, 1428 Buenos Aires, Argentina
    e-mail: mandrini@iafe.uba.ar

(Received 13 June 2005 / Accepted 19 December 2005)

Abstract
By assuming that coronal active regions are made up of many loops, we investigate the relationship between the average magnetic field strength and loop length for a sample of active regions observed by the Soft X-ray Telescope aboard Yohkoh. We use photospheric magnetic data from the Michelson Doppler Imager and compute extrapolated field lines that match the observed soft X-ray emission. We compare our results with a previous study and find them to be consistent and a logical extension of such work. Such studies have important implications for solar coronal heating models.

Key words: Sun: magnetic fields -- Sun: corona

© ESO 2006

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