SECIS: The solar eclipse coronal eclipse imaging system

The Solar Eclipse Coronal Imaging System (SECIS) is an instrument designed to search for short-period modulations in the solar corona seen either duri ng a total eclipse or with a coronagraph. The CCD cameras used in SECIS hav e the capability of imaging the corona at a rate of up to 70 frames a secon d, with the intensities in each pixel digitised in 12-bit levels. The data are captured and stored on a modified PC. With suitable optics it is thus p ossible to search for fast changes or short-period wave motions in the coro na that will have important implications for the coronal heating mechanism. The equipment has been successfully tested using the Evans Solar Facility coronagraph at National Solar Observatory/Sacramento Peak and during the 11 August 1999 eclipse at a site in north-eastern Bulgaria. The instrument is described and preliminary results are outlined.