| Abstract: | Four series of coronal images have been obtained by the expedition of Abastumani Astrophysical Observatory during the August 11, 1999 total solar eclipse with the help of a photographic mirror–lens polarimeter (D = 100 mm, F = 1000 mm). Each series include three images corresponding to three positions of the polarization analyzer. The position of the solar disk center relative to the Moon's center has been determined beforehand. In addition, the background skylight polarization and intensity are calculated. All measurements are absolute given in units of the Sun's average surface brightness. A new technique for separation of the F- and K-coronae is used. It was found that in the equatorial regions the model of hydrostatic distribution of the density with T = constant is not quite accurate for the August 11, 1999 corona and there is a temperature gradient in this region. For r1 = 1.3R⊙ and r2 = 1.8R⊙ we derived T1 = 1.25×106 K and T2 = 1.07×106 K, respectively. The average polarization degree in the equatorial regions changes from 10 to 40%, while in the polar regions the maximum value reaches only 10%. The values of electron densities Ne(r) vary from 1.32×108 cm−3 (r = 1.1R⊙) to 2.0×106 cm−3 (r = 2.0R⊙). Our data are compared with previous measurements. |
