This infographic was designed in celebration of the 20 years of the Integral mission from the European Space Agency.
Launched on 17 October 2002, ESA’s Integral mission is a world-class mission which has been observing the Universe’s violent explosions and powerful phenomena for 20 years, achieving many scientific firsts. The mission's impressive lifetime is owed to responsibility and leadership on the side of ESA science and operations. This graphic highlights some of the mission’s impressive numbers to date.
Full article: Integral's 20th anniversary
One 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:
* The solar wind 'blows' across the magnetopause, rolling it up into giant whirlpool-like vortices
* Electrons enter the magnetosphere through the vortices and travel down towards the upper atmosphere
* In the upper atmosphere, electrons collide with hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, causing auroral beads to glow in the sky
Full article: Magnetic vortices explain mysterious auroral beads
