Prominence atlas in the SUMER range 800 1250 Å: I. Observations, data reduction and preliminary results

The aim of this work is to build an EUV-UV spectral catalogue of a prominence. Here we focus on the preparatory work for the final result and we give an example of the results obtained. As a first step, we present the information needed for a full understanding of the results that will form the final entire catalogue. The data are composed of a full SUMER spectrum in the range 800 1250 Å of a prominence observed on 8 October 1999. A quiet-Sun area was also observed in the same spectral range in order to have a reference spectrum. Beside the standard corrections, we give details of the estimated stray light and the wavelength calibration of both datasets. We also present a short list of lines as an example of the results from the line-fitting procedure we applied to the data. For each line we give the measured position, the total intensity and the FWHM in the quiet Sun and at two different spatial positions in the prominence. With a final atlas of the prominence it will be possible to investigate several properties of the feature such as mass motion, differential emission measure, density, and elemental composition.