Ultra-low Spatial Resolution Photometry in Near-infrared to Detect the Solar Dust Ring

Abstract

There are conflicting reports about the existence of the dust ring around the Sun. An experiment to detect the solar dust ring was performed by IIA group during the total solar eclipse of Oct. 24, 1995. A near-infrared extended coronal image was obtained with a 12 inch coelostat, 210 mm telephoto objective and a liquid nitrogen cooled CCD Camera. The data were analysed in a Sparc workstation using the IRAF image processing package. A contour map of the image shows lot of irregularities in the infrared emission. The intensity scans in the solar equatorial regions do not show evidence for a solar dust ring at 4 solar radii at 1 micormeter. The coronal flattening index upto 7 solar radii was obtained from the data.