New Horizons SWAP: Solar Wind Measurements During Jupiter Encounter

During the Jupiter mission phase, the New Horizons SWAP instrument made near-continuous science observations, taking data between 2 and 12 times per hour. This calibrated dataset, Version 4.0, contains measurements from inbound to Jupiter through the tail, continuing until about 100 days after closest approach. The data was produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and last updated in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Modeling solar wind dynamics in Jupiter's magnetotail based on the described tail observations.
• Analyzing temporal variations in solar wind parameters based on the near-continuous measurement cadence.
• Calibrating or validating space weather models using the updated geometry from newer SPICE kernels.

Strengths

• Data is calibrated and represents Version 4.0, incorporating updated geometry and resolved review items.
• Observations are near-continuous, with a cadence ranging from 2 to 12 times per hour during the encounter.
• Tail observations extend to about 2200 Jupiter radii downstream, providing extensive coverage.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected by the New Horizons Solar Wind Around Pluto (SWAP) instrument during the Jupiter encounter mission phase.

Time Range

Covers the Jupiter encounter mission phase, including tail observations for about 100 days after closest approach.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-10 19:27:32.100861; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Data collected in the vicinity of Jupiter, extending into its magnetotail.