Kilometric continuum detected by Geotail

A new kind of terrestrial continuum that appears to be generated inside the Earth's plasmasphere has been detected by the Geotail satellite at an orbi tal distance of 10 to 30 R-E in the dayside and evening sectors of the magn etosphere. This previously undetected emission, which will be called "kilom etric continuum," is found to consist of slowly drifting narrowband signals at a frequency of 100 to 800 kHz, corresponding to the plasma frequency in side the plasmasphere at an altitude extending down to only a few thousand kilometers in the topside equatorial region of the Earth's ionosphere, Unli ke normal continuum, kilometric continuum is found to occur only near the m agnetic equator, where it appears to be unrelated to magnetic activity and is emitted within a well-defined beam within only similar to 10 degrees of the magnetic equator.