Multi-Wavelength Eclipse Observations of a Quiescent Prominence

We construct the maps of temperatures, geometrical thicknesses, electron densities and gas pressures in a quiescent prominence. For this we use the RGB signal of the prominence visible-light emission detected during the total solar eclipse of 1 August 2008 in Mongolia and quasi-simultaneous Hα spectra taken at Ond?ejov Observatory. The method of disentangling the electron density and geometrical (effective) thickness was described by Jej?i? and Heinzel (Solar Phys. 254, 89?–?100, 2009) and is used here for the first time to analyse the spatial variations of prominence parameters. For the studied prominence we obtained the following range of parameters: temperature 6000?–?15?000 K, effective thickness 200?–?15000 km, electron density 5×10⁹?–?10¹¹ cm^?3 and gas pressure 0.02?–?0.2 dyn?cm^?2 (assuming a fixed ionisation degree n _p/n _H=0.5). The electron density increases towards the bottom of the prominence, which we explain by an enhanced photoionisation due to the incident solar radiation. To confirm this, we construct a two-dimensional radiative-transfer model with realistic prominence illumination.