Publication

The fluxgate magnetometer experiment onboard theROSETTAspacecraft aims to measure the magnetic field in the interaction region of the solar wind plasma with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It consists of a system of two ultra light (about 28 g each ) triaxial fluxgate magnetometer sensors, mounted on the 1.5 m long spacecraft boom. The measurement range of each sensor is ±16384 nT with quantization steps of 31 pT. The magnetometer sensors are operated with a time resolution of up to 0.05 s, corresponding to a bandwidth of 0–10 Hz. This performance of the RPCMAGsensors allows detailed analyses of magnetic field variations in the cometary environment. RPC-MAG furthermore is designed to study possible remnant magnetic fields of the nucleus, measurements which will be done in close cooperation with theROSETTAlander magnetometer experiment ROMAP.

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Glassmeier, K.-H.; Richter, I.; Diedrich, A.; Musmann, G.; Auster, U.; Motschmann, U.; Balogh, A.; Carr, C.; Cupido, E.; Coates, A.; Rother, M.; Schwingenschuh, K.; Szegö, K.; Tsurutani, B. (2007): RPC-MAG The Fluxgate Magnetometer in the ROSETTA Plasma Consortium. Space Science Reviews, 128, 1-4, 649-670.