Cluster shows plasmasphere interacting with Van Allen belts10 September 2013
Near-Earth space is populated by charged particles - electrons and ions - which occupy regions known as the plasmasphere and the Van Allen radiation belts. Over the past decade, the four identical spacecraft of ESA's Cluster mission have made numerous studies of these regions, and a recent paper has revealed intriguing links between these overlapping regions.
http://sci.esa.int/cluster/52802-cluster-shows-plasmasphere-interacting-with-van-allen-belts/Image credit: ESA - C. Carreau
ESA's Cluster satellites in closet-ever "dance in space"20 September 2013
Since 2000, the four identical satellites of the Cluster quartet have been probing Earth’s magnetosphere in three dimensions. This week, two of them made their closest-ever approach, just 4 km, enabling valuable data to be acquired with unprecedented detail.
In an orbital reconfiguration that will help to maintain the mission’s life span, two of the four satellites achieved their closest-ever separation on 19 September, closing to within just 4 km of each other as they orbited at up to 23 000 km/h high above Earth.
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Operations/ESA_s_Cluster_satellites_in_closest-ever_dance_in_space
Cluster solves the mystery of equatorial noise14 July 2015
ESA's Cluster mission has solved a mystery which puzzled scientists for almost half a century. Data sent back by two of the spacecraft have revealed for the first time the physical mechanism behind the generation of "noisy" waves in near-Earth space.
http://sci.esa.int/cluster/56143-cluster-solves-the-mystery-of-equatorial-noise/Image credit: ESA/ATG medialab
Cluster's VMC low-res camera is being reactivated after 16 years off... and it works! They are now checking if the images are ok - if so, they will use them for South Pole imaging.
At first sight we were able to spot lots of zeros in the stream which would indicate black sky - good sensor! TBC!
So tonight we proved that VMC works, takes images and we are able to download. Now we need to analyse if images are any good! #VMCSouthPole
O marks the spot for magnetic reconnection10 April 2017
ESA's Cluster mission is challenging the current view of magnetic reconnection – the breaking and immediate rearrangement of magnetic field lines in the collision of two plasma flows. According to a new study, most of the energy dissipated during a reconnection event is not released at the crossings, or X-lines, between the two plasma flows but rather in swirling vortices, or O-lines, where magnetic field lines bundle up and spiral together. The new finding, which contradicts the accepted consensus, is an important step in the process of understanding the mechanisms that accelerate particles in space plasma.
http://sci.esa.int/cluster/58994-o-marks-the-spot-for-magnetic-reconnection/Image credit: ESA
IRON IS EVERYWHERE IN EARTH'S VICINITY, SUGGEST TWO DECADES OF CLUSTER DATA19 March 2020
Using over 18 years of data from ESA's Cluster mission, scientists have mapped the heavy metals in the space surrounding Earth, finding an unexpected distribution and prevalence of iron and shedding light on the composition of our cosmic environment.
https://sci.esa.int/s/899yV28Image credit: ESA; Sun: ESA/NASA/SOHO/LASCO/EIT
Magnetic vortices explain mysterious auroral beadsOne solar stormy day in November 2018, 13 spacecraft including ESA’s Cluster mission were in the right place at the right time to spot a process that has never been seen in its entirety before. Their observations explain how vortices at the edge of Earth’s magnetosphere can cause auroral beads to dot the sky a hundred thousand kilometres below:
1) The solar wind 'blows' across the magnetopause, rolling it up into giant whirlpool-like vortices
2) Electrons enter the magnetosphere through the vortices and travel down towards the upper atmosphere
3) In the upper atmosphere, electrons collide with hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, causing auroral beads to glow in the sky
Related article:
Magnetic vortices explain mysterious auroral beadshttps://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2022/06/Magnetic_vortices_explain_mysterious_auroral_beadsImage credit: ESA
Salsa’s last dance targets reentry over South Pacific
26/01/2024
ESA’s Cluster mission, which has spent 24 years revealing the secrets of Earth’s magnetic environment, is coming to an end.
The first of the four satellites in the Cluster quartet, named ‘Salsa’, will reenter Earth’s atmosphere in September 2024.
This month, spacecraft operators carried out a series of manoeuvres to ensure this reentry will take place over a sparsely populated region in the South Pacific.
The end of the Cluster mission offers a rare chance to study the safe atmospheric reentry of four identical satellites under different conditions.
https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/Salsa_s_last_dance_targets_reentry_over_South_Pacific
