Coronal Polarimetry: Determining the Magnetic Origins of Coronal Mass Ejections

Synopsis: The mechanism for the release of stored magnetic energy in solar eruptions remains a major unsolved problem of Heliophysics. Choosing between triggers requires knowledge of pre-eruptive magnetic fields (B). Although linear polarization in visible/infrared (VIR) coronal emission lines reveals intriguing clues about coronal mass ejection (CME) precursor topology, small telescope apertures limit current capability for measuring vector field. Current coronal observations are insufficient to diagnose 3D coronal magnetic fields in CME precursors.

Coronal cavities are the ideal candidates for CME precursor studies. BLOS in cavities is a direct measure of stored magnetic free energy, and the presence and location of topological X-points (reconnection locations) and O-points (circulation of B about axis) distinguish predictions of the flux rope-torus-instability and sheared-arcade-breakout CME models.
- Finding: Coronal cavities are ubiquitous throughout the solar cycle, erupt as CMEs, and have coronal polarimetric signatures that distinguish between model predictions.
- Recommendation: Coronal cavities should be targeted in a comprehensive multiwavelength study of CME precursors & associated eruption-driving mechanisms.

Large ground-based VIR telescopes can measure both coronal magnetic field topology and strength through a combination of the saturated Hanle and BLOS -sensitive Zeeman effects.
- Finding: The 4m Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) and proposed 1.5m Coronal Solar Magnetism Observatory Large Coronagraph (COSMO-LC) make a major leap forward in VIR coronal sensitivity, enabling measurement of vector B.
- Recommendation: A dedicated coronal synoptic telescope with a large field-of-view (i.e., COSMO-LC) is needed to identify the dominant CME driving mechanisms, by measuring coronal magnetic fields from precursor state into eruption.
In the UV, a new opportunity has arisen to make use of the strong H I Lyman-α coronal line, which obtains a measurement of B that is independent of the Zeeman effect.
- Finding: Small-telescope spectropolarimetric capability in the unsaturated Hanle regime provides an independent and complementary coronal magnetic diagnostic to large ground-based telescope measurements.
- Recommendation: The proposed 12-cm Coronal Lyman-α Resonance Observatory (CLARO) spectropolarimetric coronagraph demonstrates a path forward for space-based observations of the coronal magnetic field that should be incorporated into future missions away from the Sun-Earth line (e.g., COMPLETE).