A study of the background corona near solar minimum

Equatorial and polar K and F coronal components during the declining phase of the solar cycle are studied through use of the white light coronagraph data obtained by Skylab. At this phase of the solar cycle, streams and holes dominate the equatorial corona (approximately 50 and 30% of the time, respectively) between 2.5 and 5.5 solar radii; however, two episodes are noted when equatorial background density of the corona could be distinguished. The derived background density is less than 15% below values predicted by the models of Newkirk (1967) and Saito (1970). The brightness of the F-corona is also discussed.