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Instrument: SWAN : Solar Wind Anisotropies |
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Associated Platforms SOHO Spectral/Frequency Information Wavelength Keyword: Ultraviolet Number Channels: 1 Spectral/Frequency Coverage/Range: 115-180 nm Spectral/Frequency Resolution: 0.001 nm Related Data Sets View all records related to this instrument Description The SWAN (Solar Wind ANisotropies) instrument is one of twelve instruments onboard SOHO (SOlar Heliospheric Observatory) satellite. It is a collaboration between Finnish Meteorological Institute and Service d'Aeronomie. Technical Research Centre of Finland was responsible for the construction, mechanics, thermal design, and central processor of the instrument itself. A solar Lyman alpha radiation is scattered by hydrogen atoms, which flow into the solar system. The scattered radiation is called interplanetary Lyman alpha radiation. SWAN observes interplanetary Lyman alpha radiation from all directions of the sky. Usually SWAN observes three radiation maps of the whole sky per week. In each map the radiation is strongest near the inflow direction of the interstellar hydrogen gas. However, the overall picture of the sky has changed considerably from the solar minimum 1996 to the solar maximum. Theoretical results have shown that this kind of a change can be caused by the solar wind proton flux which varies according to the distance to the heliospheric current sheet. For more information, see: http://www.fmi.fi/research_space/space_7.html and http://www.aero.jussieu.fr/experience/SWAN/ Online Resources http://www.aero.jussieu.fr/experience/SWAN/ http://www.fmi.fi/research_space/space_7.html Instrument Logistics Data Rate: 0.2 kbps Instrument Start Date: 1995-12-02 Instrument Owner: Finnish Meteorological Institute Service d'Areonomie, France |
