Mariner 10 radiation. The plasma experiment's goal was to study the ionized gases (plasma) of the solar wind, the temperature and density of its electrons, and how the planets affected the velocity of the plasma stream. The experiment contained two components, facing in opposite directions. The Scanning Electrostatic Analyzer was aimed toward the Sun, and could detect positive ions and electrons, which were separated by a set of three concentric hemispherical plates. The Scanning Electron Spectrometer was aimed away from the Sun, and detected only electrons, using just one hemispherical plate. The instruments could be rotated about 60 degrees to either side.
Relativistic plasma light. (About 10% of protons would have formula_3 at a temperature of 481 MeV - 5.6 TK.) Still higher energies are necessary to achieve a quark–gluon plasma. The primary changes in a plasma's behavior as it approaches the relativistic regime is slight modifications to the equations which describe a non-relativistic plasma and to collision and interaction cross sections. The equations may also need modifications to account for pair production of electron-positron pairs (or other particles at the highest temperatures). A plasma double layer with a large potential drop and layer separation, may accelerate electrons to relativistic velocities, and produce synchrotron