Discovery of scattering polarization in the hydrogen Lya line of the solar disk radiation

Little is known about the mechanisms that dominate this enigmatic region other than the magnetic field plays a key role. The magnetism of the TR can only be detected by polarimetric measurements of a few ultraviolet (UV) spectral lines, the Ly alpha line of neutral hydrogen at 121.6. nm (the strongest line of the solar UV spectrum) being of particular interest given its sensitivity to the Hanle effect (the magnetic-field-induced modification of the scattering line polarization).

We report the discovery of linear polarization produced by scattering processes in the Ly alpha line, obtained with the Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha Spectro-Polarimeter (CLASP) rocket experiment. The Stokes profiles observed by CLASP in quiet regions of the solar disk show that the Q/I and U/I linear polarization signals are of the order of 0.1% in the line core and up to a few percent in the nearby wings, and that both have conspicuous spatial variations with scales of similar to 10. arcsec.