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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.
Dwarf planets are bodies orbiting the Sun that are massive and warm enough to have achieved hydrostatic equilibrium, but have not cleared their neighbourhoods of similar objects. Since 2008, there have been five dwarf planets recognized by the IAU, although only Pluto has actually been confirmed to be in hydrostatic equilibrium [ 25 ] (Ceres is ...
The magnetosphere of Saturn is the cavity created in the flow of the solar wind by the planet's internally generated magnetic field. Discovered in 1979 by the Pioneer 11 spacecraft, Saturn's magnetosphere is the second largest of any planet in the Solar System after Jupiter .
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 ...
This is not exactly the same as the definition used in the previous century, which classed all satellites as secondary planets, even non-round ones like Saturn's Hyperion or Mars's Phobos and Deimos.) [193] [194] All the eight major planets and their planetary-mass moons have since been explored by spacecraft, as have many asteroids and 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 ...
Ganymede, or Jupiter III, is the largest and most massive natural satellite of Jupiter, and in the Solar System.Despite being the only moon in the Solar System with a substantial magnetic field, it is the largest Solar System object without a substantial atmosphere.
Mercury's magnetic field is approximately a magnetic dipole, apparently global, [8] on the planet of Mercury. [9] Data from Mariner 10 led to its discovery in 1974; the spacecraft measured the field's strength as 1.1% that of Earth's magnetic field. [10] The origin of the magnetic field can be explained by dynamo theory. [11]