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Shocking recipe for making killer electrons

11 March 2010

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The Earth’s magnetosphere is shown in blue. The Van Allen outer and inner radiation belts are located within the magnetosphere. They have been represented as two tori around Earth coloured orange. The Van Allen radiation belts were discovered as a result of an experiment designed by James Van Allen that was carried onboard the first US satellite, Explorer 1, launched in 1958. The Cluster constellation orbit in these regions.

Credits: ESA

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Artist's impression of the Cluster constellation

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Artist's impression of the Cluster constellation.

ESA's mission Cluster consists of four identical spacecraft flying in formation between 19 000 and 119 000 km above the Earth. They study the interaction between the solar wind and Earth’s magnetosphere, or the Sun-Earth connection in 3D.

Credits: ESA

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Solar activity in November 2004 as seen by the EIT instrument on SOHO. EIT stands for extreme ultraviolet imaging telescope.

Credits: ESA/NASA/SOHO

Exploring the Sun-Earth connection

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