On the geometric flattening index of the solar corona

Values of the Nikol??skii geometric flattening index of the solar corona, H, have been collected for 77 total solar eclipses from 1860 to 2010. The dependence of the H index on the Wolf number and the phase of solar activity is studied. The H index is found to take values in the range 0.9 to 2.5 and to anticorrelate with solar activity: the maximum values of the index are observed at solar minima and the minimum values are observed at solar maxima. In addition, the correlations between the H index and the Ludendorff photometric flattening index a + b and between the H index and extent of polar ray systems along the limb are investigated.