On the Role of the Solar Corona and Transition Region in the Excitation of the Spectrum of Neutral Helium

Abstract

We investigate the formation of the spectrum of neutral helium in the solar atmosphere by solving the corresponding non-LTE problem in an extended grid of model atmospheres. From the results we infer several general properties and scaling laws that can be used to discriminate the different proposed formation mechanisms. Some of the scaling laws have also been tested in a comparison with previous calculations made with different assumptions.