Comparison of heliospheric current sheet structure obtained from potential magnetic field computations and from observed polarization coronal brightness

A comparison is conducted of the structure of the heliospheric current sheet early in sunspot cycle 21 as computed from the observed photospheric magnetic field with a potential field approximation and as inferred from synoptic maps of the observed coronal polarization brightness. On most of the solar rotations compared, the two methods give essentially the same results; the basic shape of the warped current sheet and the amplitude (in solar latitude) of the displacements of the sheet from the solar equator are similar. On one rotation the current sheet computed with the potential field approximation appears to be distorted by a large photospheric region of unbalanced magnetic flux.