Jupiter (Planet) -- Photographs from space; Jupiter probes; Voyager Project
Charged particles with energies greater than a few thousand electron
volts are not easily measured by a plasma instrument such as that
designed by Herb Bridge. Instead, these faster moving particles, with
speeds up to a few percent the speed of light, are the subject of a pair
of Voyager instruments called collectively the LECP, or low energy
charged particle instrument. Like the other particles and fields
investigation, the LECP is designed to provide basic data on
plasma-physical processes in the Jovian magnetosphere and the solar
wind, and on their interactions.
The Principal Investigator for the LECP investigation is Stamatios Mike
Krimigis, a Greek-born physicist from Johns Hopkins University. Krimigis
has participated in a number of satellite studies of the terrestrial
magnetosphere, and he now serves as Head of Space Physics and
Instrumentation at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. He is
joined in this investigation by one German and five U.S.
Co-Investigators.
The LECP instrument consists of two subsystems. The first, called the
low energy magnetospheric particle analyzer, is optimized for
measurement of particles within the Jovian magnetosphere, with high
sensitivity over a broad dynamic range. Measurements of electrons,
protons, and other positive ions can be carried out, determining the
energy and composition of individual particles. The total energy ranges
covered are 10 kiloelectron volts (keV) to 11 million electron volts
(MeV) for electrons and 15 keV to 150 MeV for protons and ions.
[Illustration: Stamatios Mike Krimigis, low energy charged particle
Principal Investigator]
The second LECP subsystem is a low energy charged particle telescope,
designed to operate where the density of charged particles is low, such
as in interplanetary space or the outer magnetosphere of Jupiter. For
protons and positive ions, the energy range is from 50 keV to 40 MeV per
nucleon. The energy and species resolution is again sufficient to
determine the composition, both chemical and isotopic, of many ions
encountered. In order to provide directional discrimination even on a
spacecraft of fixed orientation, both LECP subsystems are mounted on a
moving platform that steps through eight positions in a time that can be
commanded to vary from 48 seconds to 48 minutes. The mass of the
instrument and its platform is 6.7 kilograms.
Cosmic Rays
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