TIMAS

Toroidal Imaging Mass-Angle Spectrograph

Toroidal Imaging Mass-Angle Spectrograph (TIMAS) was one of several instruments on the POLAR spacecraft, and LASP provided management for TIMAS after September 2001. The science objectives of TIMAS were to investigate:

  • The transfer of solar wind energy and momentum to the magnetosphere
  • The interaction between the magnetosphere and the ionosphere
  • The transport processes that distribute plasma and energy throughout the magnetosphere
  • The interactions that occur as plasmas of different origins and histories mix and interact

In order to meet these objectives the TIMAS instrument measured virtually the full three-dimensional velocity distribution functions of all major magnetospheric ion species with one-half spin period time resolution.

Science Target:

Sun

Science Focus:

Ionosphere, Magnetosphere, Space Weather

Instrument Type:

Remote Sensing: Visible

Instrument Site: