News archive

News archive

Magnetic reconnection is a Universal phenomenon process in magnetized plasma where magnetic field lines are broken and then reconnected. This explosive process is converting magnetic energy into particle heating and acceleration. Reconnection is believed to occur is all magnetized bodies, from astronomical objects to the Sun and in the magnetosphere.
Published: 29 June 2003
ESA's four Cluster spacecraft have made a remarkable set of observations that has led to a breakthrough in understanding the origin of a peculiar and puzzling type of aurora.
Published: 20 May 2003
The cross-magnetotail current sheet, which separates the northern lobe of the magnetotail from the southern lobe, is one of the key objects of magnetospheric physics.
Published: 29 January 2003
The prime scientific objective of Cluster is to derive physical quantities, such as the electric current density that can only be obtained by combining measurements from the four spacecraft. A first example where this has been achieved was obtained close to the external boundary of the Earth's magnetic field, in a Flux Transfer Event (FTE).
Published: 28 January 2003
The Cluster quartet of spacecraft allows, for the first time, to unambiguously determine the characteristics of the tail current sheet in the Earth's magnetosphere.
Published: 29 December 2002
A powerful solar eruption occurred on 29 March 2001, which then released a coronal mass ejection toward the Earth. Early on 31 March 2001, since it is taking about 2 days for the CME to reach the Earth, a strong interplanetary shock struck the Earth, initiating one of the largest geomagnetic storms of this solar cycle.
Published: 1 October 2002
Meteorologists can no longer view the Earth as an isolated system. Both long-term climate changes and day-to-day weather show links with the Sun's activity. Scientists therefore study the nature of those links intensely. With data from ESA's spaceprobes SOHO, Cluster, and Ulysses, we now have the information we need to solve the mystery of how the Sun's activity affects the climate here on Earth. This study is the first step in setting up a new type of weather forecast - the space-weather bulletin.
Published: 23 August 2002
The Brazilian World Cup celebrations may have started to die down, but in space the never-ending football match between the Sun and Earth continues. And watching this match closely are Salsa, Samba, Rumba and Tango, the four satellites that make up the Cluster mission. They are performing their Brazilian dances 119 000 kilometres above our heads.
Published: 5 July 2002
Anyone living near the Arctic Circle will be familiar with aurorae, the legendary red and green curtains that illuminate the long winter nights. Much less familiar is the mysterious 'black aurora', a strange electrical phenomenon that produces dark, empty regions within the visible Northern and Southern Lights.
Published: 10 December 2001
Activity on the Sun may be declining after last year's peak, but, as the four Cluster spacecraft can testify, our nearest star can still pack a hefty punch.
Published: 12 November 2001
The Cluster four spacecraft measurements allow for the measurement of many differential quantities. The gradient of the electron density is one of them. This parameter is key in magnetospheric physics since it is involved in the motion of plasma boundaries and structures.
Published: 31 October 2001
People living at high latitudes may have to endure long, icy winters, but Nature has stepped in to offer some compensation in the form of the auroras - the beautiful, shimmering curtains of red and green that illuminate the polar skies. Now the four Cluster spacecraft have begun to shed new light on the processes that make this dazzling display possible.
Published: 23 October 2001
Like ships on a never-ending expedition around the world, ESA's four Cluster spacecraft continue to explore the mysterious magnetic environment that surrounds the Earth - a stormy sea filled with electrified particles instead of water. As the quartet surveys the planet's poles, they are discovering the secrets of the northern cusp - a funnel-shaped opening in the magnetic field.
Published: 9 October 2001
Important steps towards the realisation of a unique East-West collaboration were taken during a recent visit to Beijing by European scientists and engineers. During the week of 10-14 September, representatives from ESA and 10 European instrument teams took the opportunity to renew acquaintance with engineers working on the Double Star mission.
Published: 27 September 2001
Everyone is familiar with animals' tails, but less well known is the fact that most planets have tails too - huge, magnetic tails filled with electrified gas rather than fur, flesh and muscle. Since the end of August, ESA's four Cluster spacecraft have been flying along the middle of the Earth's magnetotail, carrying out the most in-depth exploration of this region ever undertaken.
Published: 17 September 2001
ESA's four Cluster spacecraft continue to provide ground-breaking new information about the interaction between our nearest star - the Sun - and planet Earth. As they sail through the sea of plasma (electrons and protons) that fills near-Earth space, the identical instruments on the Cluster quartet are helping scientists to create the first three-dimensional views of this turbulent region.
Published: 30 August 2001
The vacuum of space is hardly a suitable habitat for birds, but someone tuning in to the signals detected by the Wide Band Data (WBD) experiment on ESA's Cluster spacecraft might be forgiven for thinking that this was not the case.
Published: 9 August 2001
Scientists, VIPs and members of the media gathered in Bristol, UK, yesterday to celebrate the first anniversary of ESA's Cluster mission to explore the magnetosphere.
Published: 17 July 2001
Space scientists around the world are today celebrating the first anniversary of the European Space Agency's revolutionary Cluster mission to explore near-Earth space and study the interaction between the Sun and Earth.
Published: 16 July 2001
29-Mar-2024 11:44 UT

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