Visible coronal emission associated with a quiescent prominence

Emission-line coronagraph images of a high-latitude, nominally quiescent prominence, recorded at wavelengths of H, 6374 Å (Fex) and 5303 Å (Fe xiv), are analyzed. Over a two-day period, the coronal images, which are found to arise predominantly from coronal emission, evolve such that the emission becomes concentrated at locations corresponding to the outer regions of the prominence. This edge enhancement has similar characteristics to results inferred from EUV prominence observations. It is postulated that this coronal emission associated with the prominence results from MHD wave dissipation. Dissipation lengths for slow-mode, fast-mode and Alfvén waves are estimated for different prominence conditions. Of these, fast-mode waves appear to be the most physically realistic heating source if the prominence magnetic field is along the length of the prominence.Operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under contract AST 78-17292 with the National Science Foundation.