| Term: | Solar K corona |
| Definition: |
The inner part of the solar corona which extends to about two solar radii. It is due to the Thomson scattering of light from the photosphere by the free electrons in the corona. The K corona exhibits a linearly polarized continuous spectrum. The high speeds of the scattering electrons (on the average 10,000 km s^-1 for a temperature of 2 million K) smear out the Fraunhofer lines except the H and K lines. |