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Polar: PIXIE at Perigee on May 11, 1999 (North)
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On May 11, 1999, the solar wind that blows constantly from the Sun
virtually disappeared. Dropping to a small fraction of its normal density and to
half its normal speed, the solar wind died down enough to allow physicists to observe
particles flowing directly from the Sun's corona to Earth. This severe change in the
solar wind also drastically changed the shape of Earth's magnetic field and produced
a rare auroral display at Earth's North Pole.
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An animation of x-ray images of the North Pole on May 11, 1999 taken by the PIXIE instrument on Polar, indicating enegetic electron fluxes striking the upper atmosphere
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MPEG-1
2 MB
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Video ID: SVS1999-0029 *
Animator: Greg Shirah
Studio: SVS
Date Completed: December 08, 1999
Duration: 639 frames,
21.3 seconds
Scientist: David Chenette (LMATC), John B. Sigwarth (University of Iowa), Mike Carlowicz (NASA/GSFC)
Instrument: Polar/PIXIE
Keywords: Aurora, Solar Wind, Electron Fluxes, Upper Atmosphere
DLESESubject: Space science, Geophysics
Data Collected: 1999/05/11
PAOID: g99-103_space
Animation Series: Polar Aurora
Please give credit for this visualization to NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Scientific Visualization Studio
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