A photo of the SWICS instrument Click on image for full size
Courtesy of the University of Maryland Space Physics Group SWICS
Instrument Page The SWICS (Solar Wind Ion Composition
Spectrometer) instrument on Ulysses is to measure the frequency
of occurence, temperature and average speed of all the major
solar wind ions, from Hydrogen through Iron. Another main goal
of the Ulysses mission is to test the solar wind coming from the
poles of the Sun. These regions of the Sun are known to give off
high-speed streams (HSST's) of solar wind. Scientists are using
the SWICS instrument to see if these streams are of constant
speed and constant composition. The instrument has already
collected data at the north and south pole of the Sun.
Scientists have already found evidence that speed and
composition are steady at the poles of the Sun. One interesting
fact about the SWICS instrument is that it measures the
composition, temperature, and speed of solar wind ions of speeds
ranging from 175 km/s to 1280 km/s. Compare thes