MIST

Magnetosphere, Ionosphere and Solar-Terrestrial

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2026 MIST Council Election Results

It is our pleasure to announce the results of the latest MIST Council Election.

  • Samuel Wharton (University of Leicester) is elected for a 3 year term as a MIST Councillor
  • Jewel Abbey Relampagos (Lancaster University) is elected for a 1 year term as the MIST Student Representative

In addition, due to concerns from the community regarding the ongoing UKRI/STFC funding situation, MIST Council have also decided to charter Mark Lester (University of Leicester) as an additional councillor to inform and steer the council in matters related to this specific brief, as set out in Article 4.5 of the MIST Charter.

We would like to congratulate everyone on their new roles. The full composition of Council can be found on the MIST website (https://www.mist.ac.uk/community/mist-council). We would like to thank all the candidates for putting themselves forward and everyone who took part in the voting. We received votes from 132 people which represents a turnout of 21.5% of people registered to receive the MIST emailing list.

Finally, MIST Council would like to extend their thanks and gratitude to our outgoing members: Fiona Ball and Georgios Nicolaou. We would also like to say a special thank you to Andy Smith who was co-opted to be on MIST council while Rosie Johnson was on maternity leave, thank you for all of your hard work.

Open Letter Ready For Signatories

Protect MIST Science! Sign the MIST Community Open Letter on the STFC funding cuts!

https://sites.google.com/view/uk-mist-community-open-letter

 

Statement from MIST Council regarding the STFC Funding Situation

Statement from MIST Council regarding the STFC Funding Situation

MIST Council is deeply concerned by the ongoing STFC funding uncertainty and its impact on our community and beyond.

The current combination of prospective delayed and reduced funding, together with already volatile financial situations at universities across the UK, is placing significant strain on research groups. In some cases, institutions may be unable to support researchers through gaps between projects, increasing precarity across the community and adding significant pressure on early-career researchers.

We are concerned that continued uncertainty risks accelerating a brain drain from the UK, as skilled researchers reconsider their future in a system offering limited stability. The loss of expertise at any career stage would have lasting consequences for UK space science.

 

What is going on?

For those that are unaware of the situation, it is complex and evolving. We suggest the following sources to get up to speed on the current developments.

https://www.sciencecampaign.org.uk/analysis-and-publications/detail/what-is-happening-with-ukri-funding-and-the-stfc-cuts/

https://ras.ac.uk/news-and-press/news/proposed-budget-cuts-catastrophe-uk-astronomy

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2514481-physicists-warn-of-catastrophic-impact-from-uk-science-cuts/

 

What are we doing about it?

Behind the scenes, MIST Council is actively engaging with relevant parties to understand the scale of the challenge and to identify constructive ways forward.

  • We are seeking seasoned members of the community to join MIST Council on a task force to help develop options and represent the needs of our community. If you would like to be involved, please reach out to us via the MIST Council email (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) by the end of this week (13th February 2026).
  • In addition to the task force, we want to provide an open forum for discussion and collective input among all members of the wider MIST community. We are exploring options and will be in touch as soon as possible with further details.
  • We believe in working together in the face of the current challenges and we are collaborating with UKSP and others to strive for a fair and positive outcome for all. We are reaching out to members of the SSAP (Solar System Advisory Panel) to explore the hosting of a community town hall meeting, like the one already being organised by the AAP (Astronomy Advisory Panel), to provide an open forum for discussion and collective input.

 

What can you do to help?

There are several open letters representing people in various career stages that have been made available to sign. We encourage you to read the relevant letter(s) and to sign them if you support them:

The Royal Astronomical Society are also urging Fellows to lobby their MPs against the cuts, and have included a template letter that can be used to do so:
https://ras.ac.uk/news-and-press/news/ras-fellows-urged-lobby-against-unprecedented-cuts

 

MIST Council will continue to advocate for transparency, stability, and funding structures that recognise both the long-term nature of our science and the people who deliver it.
We thank you for your continued support in this period of uncertainty.

 

Please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you have further suggestions.
MIST Council

Announcement of New MIST Council 2025

We are very pleased to announce the following members of the community have been elected to MIST Council:

  • Gemma Bower (University of Leicester), MIST Councillor
  • Tom Elsden (University of St Andrews), MIST Councillor
  • Cameron Patterson (Lancaster University), MIST Councillor
  • Fiona Ball (University of Southampton), Student Representative

They will begin their terms in July 2025.

We thank outgoing MIST Council members: Maria Walach, Chiara Lazzeri and Emma Woodfield. Andy Smith will remain on council a little longer as a co-opted member to cover Rosie Johnson's maternity leave.

The current composition of Council can be found on our website (https://www.mist.ac.uk/community/mist-council).

Announcement of New MIST Councillors.

We are very pleased to announce the following members of the community have been elected unopposed to MIST Council:

  • Rosie Johnson (Aberystwyth University), MIST Councillor
  • Matthew Brown (University of Birmingham), MIST Councillor
  • Chiara Lazzeri (MSSL, UCL), Student Representative

Rosie, Matthew, and Chiara will begin their terms in July. This will coincide with Jasmine Kaur Sandhu, Beatriz Sanchez-Cano, and Sophie Maguire outgoing as Councillors.

The current composition of Council can be found on our website, and this will be amended in July to reflect this announcement (https://www.mist.ac.uk/community/mist-council).

Temporal and Spectral Studies by XMM-Newton of Jupiter’s X-ray Auroras During a Compression Event

By Affelia Wibisono (Mullard Space Science Laboratory, UCL)

Out of all of Jupiter’s aurorae, its X-ray aurora is unique as it is produced by the interactions between the constituents of Jupiter’s atmosphere with both ions and electrons. Furthermore, the X-rays are emitted by the precipitating particles rather than the native Jovian species. The X-ray aurorae are fixed on Jupiter’s frame and often exhibit quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) with periods of tens of minutes (e.g. Dunn et al., 2017), however, the origins of the precipitating particles and the source of the QPOs remain to be fully understood.

Contemporaneous observations by XMM-Newton and Chandra of Jupiter’s X-ray aurorae occurred for five hours in June 2017 while Juno was at near apojove. XMM-Newton continued to survey the emissions for a further 18 hours. The southern aurora was visible to XMM-Newton three times while the northern aurora was only seen twice. The planet’s magnetosphere was shown to be compressed by the solar wind during this time.

Wibisono et al., 2020 applied discrete wavelet and Fast Fourier Transforms (FFT) on the XMM-Newton auroral lightcurves from both poles. Figure 1 shows the power spectral density (PSD) plots from the FFT analysis in chronological order. QPOs were not found in the southern lights when it was first in view hence why its PSD plot is not included. The first rotation in the north had a strong pulse with a period of 27 minutes; a result that Chandra agrees with (Weigt et al., 2020). There is a secondary, less powerful beat at 23 minutes that is also observed in the south and then again in the north. This period lasts for a total duration of 12.5 hours, marking it the first time that both poles are seen to pulsate with the same period, at the same time and for more than one Jupiter rotation. The period increased to 33 minutes in the final rotation. The observed periods indicate that ultra-low frequency waves are a likely cause of the pulsations.

Power spectral densities for multiple rotations.

Figure 1: The power spectral density (PSD) plots after the Fast Fourier Transform was applied on the time intervals when regular pulsations occurred. PSDs A and C are for the entire first rotation and start of the second rotation of the northern aurora respectively. PSDs B and D are for the beginning of the second and entire third rotation of the southern aurora respectively. The dashed, dashed-dot and dotted black lines mark the 66th, 90th and 99th percentiles which were calculated by using Monte Carlo methods to produce 10 000 simulated lightcurves and determining the frequency of a periodicity of the observed power was randomly generated. The vertical red dashed lines show when the period is equal to 23 minutes. There were no regular pulsations in the first rotation in the south.

Spectral analysis of the XMM-Newton dataset gave the surprising result that during this particular magnetospheric compression event, the precipitating ions were from inside Jupiter’s magnetosphere. This outcome provides an insight into what drives Jupiter’s X-ray aurorae that have significant implications for our understanding of the wider magnetospheric dynamics at Jupiter.

For more details, see the paper:

Wibisono, A. D., Branduardi‐Raymont, G., Dunn, W. R., Coates, A. J., Weigt, D. M., Jackman, C. M., et al ( 2020). Temporal and Spectral Studies by XMM‐Newton of Jupiter's X‐ray Auroras During a Compression Event. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 125, e2019JA027676. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JA027676