Magnetic field of solar dark filaments obtained from He i 10830 Å spectropolarimetric observation

Abstract Solar filaments are dense, cool plasma clouds in the solar corona. They are supposed to be supported in a dip of the coronal magnetic field. However, the models still disagree between two types of field configuration; one is the normal polarity model proposed by Kippenhahn and Schlueter (1957, Z. Astrophys., 43, 36), and the other is the reverse polarity model proposed by Kuperus and Raadu (1974, A&A, 31, 189). To understand the mechanism that makes the filaments become unstable before eruption, it is critical to know the magnetic structure of solar filaments. We performed spectropolarimetric observation in the He i (10830 Å) line to investigate the magnetic field configuration of dark filaments. The observation was carried out with the Domeless Solar Telescope at Hida Observatory with a polarization sensitivity of 3.0 × 10−4. We obtained eight samples of filaments in a quiet region. As a result of the analysis of full Stokes profiles of filaments, we found that the field strengths were estimated as 8–35 G. By comparing the direction of the magnetic field in filaments and the global distribution of the photospheric magnetic field, we determined the magnetic field configuration of the filaments, and we concluded that one out of the eight samples has normal polarity configuration, and seven out of the eight have reverse polarity configuration.