ESA uses cookies to track visits to our website only, no personal information is collected.
By continuing to use the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. OK Find out more about our cookie policy.
Date: 10 March 2010 Copyright: ESA Show in archive: true
Data from Cluster, and other spacecraft monitoring the magnetosphere, have shown that interplanetary shocks - caused by coronal mass ejections from the Sun - can create "killer electrons" in the near-Earth space environment within 15 minutes of the shock reaching the Earth's protective magnetic bubble. Killer electrons are highly energetic particles trapped in the Earth's outer radiation belt.