Silicon in the solar corona

Abstract

Resonance lines of coronal ions of silicon are prominent in the spectral ranges 40–62 Å and 254–356 Å.An unexpected feature of the soft X-ray spectrum is the weakness or absence of the resonance lines of iron in ionization stages XI through XV.A second feature is the prominence of lines of the type (3d → 2p) relative to the resonance transitions (3p → 2s) in Li-like and Beryllium-like spectra. It is suggested that the upper levels (3d) are excited by quadrupole collisions from the ground 2s or 2s2levels.The intensity of the soft X-ray lines relative to the resonance lines in the 300 Å region seems to be more consistent with temperatures well above one million degrees than with temperatures as low as 700000°K, but the data are not adequate for a precise comparison. The relative intensity of the line emission from the various stages of silicon ionization may be interpreted as indicating that the ionization of silicon peaks in stages IX and X.The abundances of C, Mg, S, and Al relative to silicon do not seem to be greatly different from the chromospheric abundances reported by Pottasch or with the photospheric abundances.