Prominence modelling: from observed emission measures to temperature profiles

¹ Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 1, 85740 Garching, Germany e-mail: ula@mpa-garching.mpg.de
² Astronomical Institute, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 25165 Ondřejov, Czech Republic

Received: 11 October 2007
Accepted: 14 January 2008

Abstract

Aims.We outline the construction of prominence – corona transition region models based upon the observations of one particular prominence.

Methods.The differential emission measure curves from observations were approximated by simple analytical functions. On this basis we constructed the temperature curve and calculated the radiative losses, the gains by thermal conduction, and some estimates for the wave heating.

Results.The temperature curve was calculated in the range between 23 000 K and 450 000 K. The resulting transition region can be divided into an inner region where the temperature is low and the radiative losses are very large, a part with a very steep temperature rise from 40 000 K to around 250 000 K over a width of only 500 km, and an extended high temperature region. Both the conductive heating and our estimates for a possible wave cooling/heating peak very sharply in the region with the very large temperature gradient. The consequences for the energy balance are discussed.