ESA Releases Data on Killer Electrons

Today, the European Space Agency (ESA) released a long awaited data analysis from its Cluster mission. The Cluster satellites orbited the Earth from 2001 through 2009. The goal was to study the interaction of the Earth’s magnetic field and the charged particles streaming to us from the Sun commonly known as the Solar Wind. Some scientists have called the resultant high energy electrons, killer electrons. “Killer electrons are highly energetic particles trapped in Earth’s outer radiation belt, which extends from 12 000 km to 64 000 km above the planet’s surface.” Learn more about the Cluster data online now here, and watch a really ‘cool’ visualization of the interaction of the Solar Wind and the Earth’s magnetosphere.