Initial results from the IMAGE extreme ultraviolet imager

Abstract

The Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUV) of the IMAGE mission is providing the first global images of the He〈+ distribution in Earth's plasmasphere. The EUV instrument images the He〈+ resonance line emission at 30.4 nm at a time resolution of 10 minutes and a spatial resolution of 0.1 RE. Each image encompasses the entire plasmasphere in a single frame, to permit study of the structure and dynamics of the plasmasphere in its entirety. Here we survey several of the most striking features of the plasmasphere as seen by EUV. These features include convection tails, depleted regions that we call "voids," isolated magnetic flux tubes filled to higher He〈+ density than their neighbors, and "shoulders" in the He〈+ distribution.