The Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) is a governmental research institute which conducts research and postgraduate education in atmospheric physics, space physics and space technology. Measurements are made in the atmosphere, ionosphere, magnetosphere and around other planets with the help of ground-based equipment (including radar), stratospheric balloons and satellites. IRF was established (as Kiruna Geophysical Observatory) in 1957 and its first satellite instrument was launched in 1968. The head office is in Kiruna (geographic coordinates 67.84° N, 20.41° E) and IRF also has offices in Umeå, Uppsala and Lund.
Address:
Box 812, SE-981 28 Kiruna
Phone:
+46-980 79000
Head of public authority (President/Vice-Chancellor/CEO/DG):
Lars Eliasson
URL:
3 January, 2019 - Institutet för rymdfysik
On January 3, 03:26 Swedish time, the Chinese Chang’E-4 spacecraft landed successfully on the far side of the Moon. The Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) has developed one of the scientific instruments on board. The aim of the instrument is to study how the solar wind interacts with the lunar surface.
7 December, 2018 - Institutet för rymdfysik
Computer simulations of the plumes of liquid water that stream out of Jupiter’s moon Europa show that the forthcoming space mission JUICE may offer an answer to the question as to whether the Jovian moon’s sub-surface ocean could harbour life. Hans Huybrighs comes to this conclusion in the doctoral thesis he has recently completed in collaboration with the Swedish Institute of Space Physics.
15 November, 2018 - Institutet för rymdfysik
Research to be published today in the respected journal Science presents observations made by NASA’s four Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) satellites in the Earth’s magnetotail and help us to understand how the plasma particles and in particular electrons are accelerated during reconnection. Two scientists from the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) in Uppsala are co-authors of the article.
12 December, 2017 - Institutet för rymdfysik
A Langmuir probe, developed in Sweden and flown to Saturn on the Cassini spacecraft, has made exciting discoveries in the atmosphere of the planet. Jan-Erik Wahlund at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics in Uppsala and his colleagues show that there is a strong coupling, both chemically and electrically, between the atmosphere of Saturn and […]
7 December, 2017 - Institutet för rymdfysik
Despite the absence of a global Earth-like magnetic dipole, the Martian atmosphere is well protected from the effects of the solar wind on ion escape from the planet. New research shows this using measurements from the Swedish particle instrument ASPERA-3 on the Mars Express spacecraft. The results have recently been presented in a doctoral thesis by Robin Ramstad, Swedish Institute of Space Physics and Umeå University, Sweden.
15 October, 2016 - Institutet för rymdfysik
In a new study researchers at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics have used measurements from NASA’s MMS (Magnetospheric MultiScale) satellites to reveal that there are ripples, or surface waves, moving along the surface of shocks in space. Such ripples in shocks can affect how plasma is heated and are potential sites of particle acceleration. […]
22 January, 2015 - Institutet för rymdfysik
In an article in Science an international research group led from the Swedish Institute of Space Physics shows what happens when a magnetosphere forms round a comet. The RPC-ICA instrument onboard the Rosetta spacecraft has been watching the early stages of how a magnetosphere forms around Comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko as it moves closer to the Sun along its orbit and begins to interact with the solar wind.
15 October, 2014 - Institutet för rymdfysik
On Sunday 19 October at 20:29 CET a comet will pass close to the planet Mars. At the same time the Swedish instrument ASPERA-3 is on board the European satellite Mars Express orbiting Mars and ready to make measurements.
10 June, 2014 - Institutet för rymdfysik
Space is not empty. A wind of charged particles blows outwards from the Sun, carrying a magnetic field with it. Sometimes this solar wind can break through the Earth’s magnetic field. Researchers at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) in Uppsala now have an answer to one of the questions about how this actually occurs.
13 November, 2013 - Institutet för rymdfysik
The sun emits light, but it also emits particle beams. A scientist at the Swedish Insitute of Space Physics (IRF) in Uppsala has revealed how these beams generate radio waves. These radio waves can tell us about the outer layers of the sun and the interstellar medium without going there. In particular, the radio emissions are produced in small packages, and their shapes are determined by the density changes in the solar wind.
Expertsvar, The Swedish Research Council, Klarabergsviadukten 82, Stockholm SWEDEN, Phone +46(0)8 546 44 000
P.O. Box 1035, SE-101 38 Stockholm, expertsvar@vr.se
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