Differential Emission Measure (DEM) inversion methods use the brightness of a
set of emission lines to infer the line-of-sight (LOS) distribution of the
electron temperature (Teβ) in the corona. DEM inversions have been
traditionally performed with collisionally excited lines at wavelengths in the
Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) and X-ray. However, such emission is difficult to
observe beyond the inner corona (1.5 Rββ), particularly in coronal holes.
Given the importance of the Teβ distribution in the corona for exploring the
viability of different heating processes, we introduce an analog of the DEM
specifically for radiatively excited coronal emission lines, such as those
observed during total solar eclipses (TSEs) and with coronagraphs. This
Radiative DEM (R-DEM) inversion utilizes visible and infrared emission lines
which are excited by photospheric radiation out to at least 3 Rββ.
Specifically, we use the Fe X (637 nm), Fe XI (789 nm), and Fe XIV (530 nm)
coronal emission lines observed during the 2019 July 2 TSE near solar minimum.
We find that despite a large Teβ spread in the inner corona, the distribution
converges to an almost isothermal yet bimodal distribution beyond 1.4
Rββ, with Teβ ranging from 1.1 to 1.4 in coronal holes, and from 1.4 to
1.65 MK in quiescent streamers. Application of the R-DEM inversion to the
Predictive Science Inc. magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation for the 2019
eclipse validates the R-DEM method and yields a similar LOS Te distribution to
the eclipse data.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Ap