Research Note

The plasma filling factor of coronal bright points

II. Combined EIS and TRACE results

Department of Computational and Data Sciences, George Mason University, 4400 University Dr., Fairfax VA, 22030, USA e-mail: kdere@gmu.edu

Received: 11 November 2008
Accepted: 28 January 2009

Abstract

Aims. In a previous paper, the volumetric plasma filling factor of coronal bright points was determined from spectra obtained with the Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS). The analysis of these data showed that the median plasma filling factor was 0.015. One interpretation of this result was that the small filling factor was consistent with a single coronal loop with a width of 1–2´´, somewhat below the apparent width. In this paper, higher spatial resolution observations with the Transition Region and Corona Explorer (TRACE) are used to test this interpretation.

Methods. Rastered spectra of regions of the quiet Sun were recorded by the EIS during operations with the Hinode satellite. Many of these regions were simultaneously observed with TRACE. Calibrated intensities of Fe xii lines were obtained and images of the quiet corona were constructed from the EIS measurements. Emission measures were determined from the EIS spectra and geometrical widths of coronal bright points were obtained from the TRACE images. Electron densities were determined from density-sensitive line ratios measured with EIS. A comparison of the emission measure and bright point widths with the electron densities yielded the plasma filling factor.

Results. The median electron density of coronal bright points is 3 10⁹ cm^-3 at a temperature of 1.6 10⁶ K. The volumetric plasma filling factor of coronal bright points was found to vary from 3 10^-3 to 0.3 with a median value of 0.04.

Conclusions. The current set of EIS and TRACE coronal bright-point observations indicate the median value of their plasma filling factor is 0.04. This can be interpreted as evidence of a considerable subresolution structure in coronal bright points or as the result of a single completely filled plasma loop with widths on the order of 0.2–1.5´´ that has not been spatially resolved in these measurements.