Non-thermal line-broadening in solar prominence

We show that the line broadening in quiescent solar prominences is mainly due to non-thermal velocities. We have simultaneously observed a wide range of optically thin lines in quiescent prominences, selected for bright and narrow Mg\,b emission without line satellites from macro-shifts. We find a ratio of reduced widths of H-gamma and H-delta of 1.05 +-0.03 which can hardly be attributed to saturation, since both are optically thin for the prominences observed: tau(gamma)<0.3 ; tau(delta)<0.15. We confirm the ratio of reduced widths of He4772(triplet) and He5015(singlet of 1.1 +-0.05 at higher significance and detect a width ratio of Mgb2 and Mg4571 (both from the triplet system) of 1.3 +-0.1. The discrepant widths of lines from different atoms, and even from the same atom, cannot be represented by a unique pair [T_kin ; V_nth]. Values of T_kin deduced from observed line radiance using models, indicate low temperatures down to T_kin~5000K. Non-thermal velocities, related to different physical states of the respective emitting prominence region, seem to be the most important line broadening mechanism

The Na I and Sr II Resonance Lines in Solar Prominences

We estimate the electron density, n_e, and its spatial variation in quiescent prominences from the observed emission ratio of the resonance lines Na I 5890 (D2) and Sr II 4078. For a bright prominence (tau_alpha ~ 25) we obtain a mean n_e ~ 2*10^10 /cm^3; for a faint one (tau_alpha ~ 4) n_e ~ 4*10^10 /cm^3 on two consecutive days with moderate internal fluctuation and no systematic variation with height above the solar limb. The thermal and non-thermal contributions to the line broadening, T_kin and V_nth, required to deduce n_e from the emission ratio NaI/SrII cannot be unambiguously determined from observed widths of lines from atoms of different mass. The reduced widths, Delta-lambda_D / lambda_0, of Sr II 4078 show an excess over those from NaD2 and H-delta, assuming the same T_kin and V_nth. We attribute this excess broadening to higher non-thermal broadening induced by interaction of ions with the prominence magnetic field. This is suggested by the finding of higher macro-shifts of SrII4078 as compared to those from NaD2.Comment: Solar Physics (in press