Observations of Multicomponent Distribution Function of Ions on the Interball/Tail Probe Satellite

Ion distributions in the inner magnetosphere were measured with the CORALL instrument onboard the Interball/Tail Probe satellite. During the first year of observations, a multicomponent distribution of ions was observed that included a cold core and a hot population in the form of one or two spherical layers at the background of an even hotter tail of the distribution. Preliminary results show such distribution to be observed at a distance of -(2-10)R(E) from the Earth, near the ecliptic plane. These events are projected into the region of invariant latitudes (ILAT) ~60°-70° at different values of the magnetic local time (MLT). The distributions measured have some features that have earlier been observed by other spacecraft (for example, the "ion gaps" which were observed onboard the Interball/Auroral Probe satellite with the ion energy spectrometer ION), but, in the case of Tail Probe they are observed at larger distances.