Fine Thermal Structure of a Coronal Active Region

Abstract

The determination of the fine thermal structure of the solar corona is fundamental to constraining the coronal heating mechanisms. The Hinode X-ray Telescope collected images of the solar corona in different passbands, thus providing temperature diagnostics through energy ratios. By combining different filters to optimize the signal-to-noise ratio, we observed a coronal active region in five filters, revealing a highly thermally structured corona: very fine structures in the core of the region and on a larger scale further away. We observed continuous thermal distribution along the coronal loops, as well as entangled structures, and variations of thermal structuring along the line of sight.