yes mms

» Glossary

bow shock - The Bow Shock in front of a planetary magnetosphere, or other magnetic object in the solar wind, is very similar to the bow wave of a boat as the bow of the ship passes through the water. It is similar to the wave in front of a rock in a stream. A plane traveling at supersonic speeds also produces a bow shock in the air in front of the plane, while it is flying.

Collimator - A device capable of collimating radiation, as a long narrow tube in which strongly absorbing or reflecting walls permit only radiation traveling parallel to the tube axis to traverse the entire length.

Electron - one of the particles that make up an atom. It has a negative charge and is much lighter than other subatomic particles.

Gyro-Orbit – a circular orbit

Ion - an atom with an electric charge resulting from the loss or gaining of electrons.

Magnetosphere – a volume of space surrounding the earth formed by the solar wind interacting with the earth’s magnetic field.

Magnetotail - The part of a planet’s magnetosphere that is elongated away from the Sun by the solar wind. Earth’s magnetosphere extends about 65,000 km on the dayside but more than 10 times further (beyond the Moon’s orbit) on the nightside.

Plasma – this state of matter occurs when temperatures are so high that electrons get stripped from their atoms resulting in a mix of negatively and positively charged ions.

Reconnection - Magnetic reconnection is the phenomenon in which magnetic energy in a plasma is rapidly converted to heat and jets of energetic particles. rarefied-purified

Solar Wind - a stream of charged particles which are ejected from the sun. Consists mainly of electrons and ions.

Triad - a union or group of three