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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.
Three of the four inner planets (Venus, Earth, and Mars) have atmospheres substantial enough to generate weather; all have impact craters and tectonic surface features, such as rift valleys and volcanoes. [91] Mercury (0.31–0.59 AU from the Sun) [D 6] is the smallest planet in the Solar System.
The study of extraterrestrial atmospheres is an active field of research, [1] both as an aspect of astronomy and to gain insight into Earth's atmosphere. [2] In addition to Earth, many of the other astronomical objects in the Solar System have atmospheres. These include all the giant planets, as well as Mars, Venus and Titan. Several moons and ...
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.
Generated by the churning molten metals in Earth’s core, the magnetosphere shields the planet from harmful solar radiation and keeps solar winds from stripping away Earth’s atmosphere.
Earth's magnetosphere, generated by its active core, is also important for the long-term habitability of Earth, as it prevents the solar winds from stripping the atmosphere out of the planet. [25] The atmosphere is thick enough to generate atmospheric pressure at sea level that keeps water in a liquid state, but it is not strong enough to be ...
The magnetosphere of Jupiter is the cavity created in the solar wind by Jupiter's magnetic field.Extending up to seven million kilometers in the Sun's direction and almost to the orbit of Saturn in the opposite direction, Jupiter's magnetosphere is the largest and most powerful of any planetary magnetosphere in the Solar System, and by volume the largest known continuous structure in the Solar ...
Earth serves as a counterexample to Venus and Mars, which have no planetary magnetospheres, and to Mercury, with a magnetosphere but negligible atmosphere. Jupiter's moon Io creates sulfur emissions, and a feature of sulfur and some sodium around that planet. Similarly, Earth's Moon has trace sodium emissions, and a far weaker tail.