The SWOOPS ion spectrometer
Los Alamos National Laboratory
SWOOPS Instrument Page
SWOOPS stands for "Solar Wind Observations Over the Poles of the Sun". This Solar
Wind Plasma Experiment onboard
Ulysses is basically making a map of the interplanetary
plasma within
the heliosphere (i.e.,
plasma that has come from the Sun is referred to as the solar wind). You see, the SWOOPS experiment measured the condition
and direction of the flow of solar plasma as Ulysses flew past Jupiter and it is measuring the
solar plasma in
its inclined orbit around the Sun. This will give us the best 3-D map of the solar plasma within heliosphere that we have ever had!
The Solar Wind Plasma Experiment on Ulysses is actually made up of two instruments,
the ion spectrometer and the electron spectrometer. The ion spectrometer measures the
positive ions within the solar wind and the electron spectrometer measures the free
electrons within the solar wind. That way, solar wind electrons and ions can be measured
simultaneously.
SWOOPS measurements determine the speed, direction and density of the solar wind
flow. The measurements also map the ion and electron temperatures. From these,
things like mass flux, momentum flux and solar wind pressure can be derived.
SWOOPS measurements have led to the discovery of a new class of solar wind
disturbances. These forward-reverse shock pairs found in high latitudes are driven by the
over-expansion of CME's. Perhaps most importantly, SWOOPS has helped us fill in the
holes to mapping the solar wind flow throughout the heliosphere. Solar wind disturbances
are capable of producing space weather events that can affect our satellites and our life on
Earth. In order to better understand and predict these space weather events, we need to
understand the Earth's surroundings. SWOOPS is helping us do just that.
Shop Windows to the Universe Science Store!
Our
online store includes
issues of NESTA's quarterly journal, The Earth Scientist, full of classroom activities on different topics in Earth and space science, ranging from
seismology,
rocks and minerals,
oceanography, and
Earth system science to
astronomy!
You might also be interested in:
Plasma is known as the fourth state of matter (the first three states being solid, liquid and gas).Matter in ordinary conditions on Earth has electrons that orbit around the atomic nucleus. The electrons
...more
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was one of the most important exploration tools of the past two decades, and will continue to serve as a great resource well into the new millennium. The HST is credited
...more
Driven by a recent surge in space research, the Apollo program hoped to add to the accomplishments of the Lunar Orbiter and Surveyor missions of the late 1960's. Apollo 11 was the first mission to succeed
...more
Apollo 12 survived a lightning strike during its launch on Nov. 14, 1969, and arrived at the Moon three days later. Astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean descended to the surface, while Richard Gordon
...more
Apollo 15 marked the start of a new series of missions from the Apollo space program, each capable of exploring more lunar terrain than ever before. Launched on July 26, 1971, Apollo 15 reached the Moon
...more
NASA chose Deep Impact to be part of a special series called the Discovery Program on July 7, 1999. In May 2001, Deep Impact was given the "go" from NASA to start with mission development. Deep Impact
...more
The Galileo spacecraft was launched on October 19, 1989. Galileo had two parts: an orbiter and a descent probe that parachuted into Jupiter's atmosphere. Galileo's primary mission was to explore the Jovian
...more
