Forward-scattering Hanle effect in the solar Ca i 4227 Å line

Abstract

High sensitivity spectropolarimetric observations of the four Stokes parameters of the solar Ca i 4227 Å line have been performed in October 2010 at IRSOL with the ZIMPOL polarimeter, near the disk center, outside an active region (Bianda et al. 2011). They were analyzed in Anusha et al. 2011 with a combination of detailed radiative transfer modelling of the Hanle effect for the linear polarization and weak field Zeeman approximation for the circular polarization. This approach made possible a unique determination of the magnetic field vector at various positions along the slit of the spectrograph. A summary of the observations and of their analysis is presented here.