  The dense prominence material is believed to be supported against gravity
through the magnetic tension of dipped coronal magnetic field. For quiescent
prominences, which exhibit many gravity-driven flows, hydrodynamic forces are
likely to play an important role in the determination of both the large and
small scale magnetic field distributions. In this study, we present the first
steps toward creating three-dimensional magneto-hydrostatic prominence model
where the prominence is formed in the dips of a coronal flux tube. Here 2.5D
equilibria are created by adding mass to an initially force-free magnetic
field, then performing a secondary magnetohydrodynamic relaxation. Two inverse
polarity magnetic field configurations are studied in detail, a simple o-point
configuration with a ratio of the horizontal field (B_x) to the axial field
(B_y) of 1:2 and a more complex model that also has an x-point with a ratio of
1:11. The models show that support against gravity is either by total pressure
or tension, with only tension support resembling observed quiescent
prominences. The o-point of the coronal flux tube was pulled down by the
prominence material, leading to compression of the magnetic field at the base
of the prominence. Therefore tension support comes from the small curvature of
the compressed magnetic field at the bottom and the larger curvature of the
stretched magnetic field at the top of the prominence. It was found that this
method does not guarantee convergence to a prominence-like equilibrium in the
case where an x-point exists below the prominence flux tube. The results imply
that a plasma beta of ~ 0.1 is necessary to support prominences through
magnetic tension.
