The three-dimensional structure of magnetostatic atmospheres. II - Modeling the large-scale corona

Abstract

Employing the formalism developed in the first paper in this series, a class of magnetostatic atmospheres is constructed in a 1/r-squared gravity. These solutions possess electric current densities distributed continuously in space and directed perpendicular to the gravitational force. A self-consistent treatment of the energy balance equation is omitted, but the problem is treated in fully three-dimensional geometry, allowing for an arbitrary prescription of the normal magnetic flux at some fixed spherical surface. The prospects of modeling real coronal structures in approximate magnetostatic equilibrium with observational inputs from magnetographs and coronographs will be evident from the illustrative examples presented.