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A rendering of the magnetic field lines of the magnetosphere of the Earth. In astronomy and planetary science, a magnetosphere is a region of space surrounding an astronomical object in which charged particles are affected by that object's magnetic field. [1] [2] It is created by a celestial body with an active interior dynamo.
As with Earth's magnetosphere, the boundary separating the solar wind's plasma from that within Saturn's magnetosphere is called the magnetopause. [2] The magnetopause distance from the planet's center at the subsolar point [ note 1 ] varies widely from 16 to 27 R s (R s =60,330 km is the equatorial radius of Saturn).
For the Earth, this could have been an external magnetic field. Early in its history the Sun went through a T-Tauri phase in which the solar wind would have had a magnetic field orders of magnitude larger than the present solar wind. [60] However, much of the field may have been screened out by the Earth's mantle.
In 2014 satellite observations from the THEMIS mission have shown that density irregularities such as plumes or biteouts may form. [6] [7] It has also been shown that the plasmasphere does not always co-rotate with the Earth. The plasma of the magnetosphere has many different levels of temperature and concentration.
Earth's western hemisphere showing topography relative to Earth's center instead of to mean sea level, as in common topographic maps Earth has a rounded shape , through hydrostatic equilibrium , [ 86 ] with an average diameter of 12,742 kilometres (7,918 mi), making it the fifth largest planetary sized and largest terrestrial object of the ...
The planet's magnetosphere, though small enough to fit within Earth, [97] is strong enough to trap solar wind plasma. This contributes to the space weathering of the planet's surface. [104] Observations taken by the Mariner 10 spacecraft detected this low energy plasma in the magnetosphere of the planet's nightside. Bursts of energetic ...
Cutaway drawing of two radiation belts around Earth: the inner belt (red) dominated by protons and the outer one (blue) by electrons. Image Credit: NASA. The inner Van Allen Belt extends typically from an altitude of 0.2 to 2 Earth radii (L values of 1.2 to 3) or 1,000 km (620 mi) to 12,000 km (7,500 mi) above the Earth.
Reconstruction of solar activity over 11,400 years. Period of equally high activity over 8,000 years ago marked. Space climate is the long-term variation in solar activity within the heliosphere, including the solar wind, the Interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), and their effects in the near-Earth environment, including the magnetosphere of Earth and the ionosphere, the upper and lower ...