  A single open magnetic flux tube spanning the solar photosphere (solar radius
R) and the lower corona (R + 10 Mm) is modelled in magnetohydrostatic
equilibrium within a realistic stratified atmosphere subject to solar gravity.
Such flux tubes are observed to remain relatively stable for up to a day or
more, and it is our aim to apply the model as the background condition for
numerical studies of energy transport mechanisms from the surface to the
corona. We solve analytically an axially symmetric 3D structure for the model,
with magnetic field strength, plasma density, pressure and temperature all
consistent with observational and theoretical estimates. The self similar
construction ensures the magnetic field is divergence free. The equation of
pressure balance for this particular set of flux tubes can be integrated
analytically to find the pressure and density corrections required to preserve
the magnetohydrostatic equilibrium. The model includes a number of free
parameters, which makes the solution applicable to a variety of other physical
problems and it may therefore be of more general interest.
