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- 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/
Group: Instrument_Details
Entry_ID: SWAN
Group: Instrument_Identification
Instrument_Category: Solar/Space Observing Instruments
Instrument_Class: Particle Detectors
Short_Name: SWAN
Long_Name: Solar Wind Anisotropies
End_Group
Group: Associated_Platforms
Short_Name: SOHO
End_Group
Group: Spectral_Frequency_Information
Wavelength_Keyword: Ultraviolet
Number_Channels: 1
Spectral_Frequency_Coverage_Range: 115-180 nm
Spectral_Frequency_Resolution: 0.001 nm
End_Group
Online_Resource: http://www.aero.jussieu.fr/experience/SWAN/
Online_Resource: http://www.fmi.fi/research_space/space_7.html
Sample_Image: http://www.fmi.fi/img/en/research/space/link/swan.jpg
Group: Instrument_Logistics
Data_Rate: 0.2 kbps
Instrument_Start_Date: 1995-12-02
Instrument_Owner: Finnish Meteorological Institute
Instrument_Owner: Service d'Areonomie, France
End_Group
End_Group
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