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Science 26 January 2001:
Vol. 291. no. 5504, pp. 619 - 624
DOI: 10.1126/science.291.5504.619

Research Articles

Views of Earth's Magnetosphere with the IMAGE Satellite

J. L. Burch,1* S. B. Mende,2 D. G. Mitchell,3 T. E. Moore,4 C. J. Pollock,1 B. W. Reinisch,5 B. R. Sandel,6 S. A. Fuselier,7 D. L. Gallagher,8 J. L. Green,4 J. D. Perez,9 P. H. Reiff10

The IMAGE spacecraft uses photon and neutral atom imaging and radio sounding techniques to provide global images of Earth's inner magnetosphere and upper atmosphere. Auroral imaging at ultraviolet wavelengths shows that the proton aurora is displaced equatorward with respect to the electron aurora and that discrete auroral forms at higher latitudes are caused almost completely by electrons. Energetic neutral atom imaging of ions injected into the inner magnetosphere during magnetospheric disturbances shows a strong energy-dependent drift that leads to the formation of the ring current by ions in the several tens of kiloelectron volts energy range. Ultraviolet imaging of the plasmasphere has revealed two unexpected features--a premidnight trough region and a dayside shoulder region--and has confirmed the 30-year-old theory of the formation of a plasma tail extending from the duskside plasmasphere toward the magnetopause.

1 Southwest Research Institute, Post Office Drawer 28510, San Antonio, TX 78228, USA.
2 Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
3 Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20723, USA.
4 NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.
5 Center for Atmospheric Research, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA 01854, USA.
6 Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
7 Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA.
8 NASA-Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL 35812, USA.
9 Physics Department, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA.
10 Physics and Astronomy Department, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jburch{at}swri.edu


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)