Index

Numbered in order of subjects; subsidiary files are indented and history files are numbered 1H etc.

Home page

Introduction
"Exploration" as a Classroom Resource
Chronology
Glossary
Folding paper model of the Magnetosphere

SUMMARY FILES:

Magnetism.
Electrons, Ions and Plasmas.
Radiation Belts.
The Sun and the Solar Wind.
Exploring Earthspace.
The Dynamic Magnetosphere.
Close-Up of the Aurora.
Magnetospheres and the Universe.
Additional Resources.

DETAILED FILES:

1. The Magnetosphere
      1H. History: 1600--Gilbert's Terrella.
2. Magnetic Fields
      2H. History: 1820: Oersted discovers electromagnetism.
3. The Polar Aurora
      3H. History: 1860--Loomis draws map of the aurora

3a. Auroral Map of Loomis
3b. Auroral Map of Fritz
3c. The Terrella
4. Electrons
      4H. History: 1896--J.J.Thomson discovers the electron
5. Magnetic Field Lines
      5H. History: 1846--Faraday introduces the idea of fields.
6. Electromagnetic Waves
7. Plasma
      7H. History : 1927--Irving Langmuir has a new use for the word "plasma".
8. Positive Ions
      8H. History: 1884--Svante Arrhenius proposes a theory of "ions".
9. Trapped Radiation
      9H. History: 1896--Henri Poincare shows magnetic field lines guide ions.
10. Motion of Trapped Radiation
      10H. History: 1910--Einstein introduces "adiabatic invariants".
11. Explorers 1 and 3

11a. The Geiger Counter
12. The Radiation Belts
      12H. History: 1958--Inner radiation belt is explained.

12a. Inner Radiation Belt
12b. Outer Radiation Belt
13. Energetic Particles
14. Synchronous Orbit
15. Energy
16. The Sun
      16H. History: 1843--Heinrich Schwabe discovers the sunspot cycle.

16a. Discovery of Sunspot Cycle
16b. Discovery of Solar Flares
17. The Sun's Corona
18. The Solar Wind
      18H. History: 1959, 1961--First direct observations of the solar wind.
19. The Magnetopause
      19H. History: 1930--the magnetic storm theory of Chapman and Ferraro.
20. Structure of the Earth's Magnetosphere
21. Lagrangian Points
22. The Wind Spacecraft
23. The Tail of the Magnetosphere
24. Substorms
25. Electric Currents from Space
      25H. History: 1903--Birkeland observes the electric currents of the polar aurora.

25a. The Triad Spacecraft
25b. The Io Dynamo
25c. Space tether experiment
26. The Polar Caps
      26H. History: 1895--Birkeland's terrella experiment.
27. Auroral Imaging
28. Auroral acceleration

28a. Flow direction of electric currents
29. Low Polar Orbit
30. Magnetic Storms
31. Space Weather
32. Magnetospheres other than Ours
33. Cosmic Rays
34 High Energy Particles in the Universe

34a. High Energy Astrophysics Missions
35. Solar Energetic Particles

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL:

"The Birth of a Radiation Belt"
"Brief History of Magnetospheric Physics during the Space Age"
Talk on the Concepts and Ideas Underlying "Exploration."
Questions and Answers