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South Atlantic Anomaly and Radiation Belts

ROSAT will traverse the regions of the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) and the northern and southern auroral zones. In these zones a significantly enhanced charged particle density environment is encountered which precludes turning on the detector high voltage. In Figure 7.1 , the ``forbidden'' regions are shown projected onto the earth's surface. On average about 27 percent of the time is not available for scientific purposes.