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The Earth and most of the planets in the Solar System, as well as the Sun and other stars, all generate magnetic fields through the motion of electrically conducting fluids. [54] The Earth's field originates in its core. This is a region of iron alloys extending to about 3400 km (the radius of the Earth is 6370 km).
Magnetosphere. 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.
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all of Earth's water is contained in its global ocean, covering 70.8% of Earth's crust.
The ozone layer protects the planet from the harmful radiations from the Sun, and free oxygen is abundant enough for the breathing needs of terrestrial life. [24] 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 ...
This makes Earth's surface warm enough for liquid water and life. In addition to trapping heat, the atmosphere also protects living organisms by shielding the Earth's surface from cosmic rays. [17] The magnetic field—created by the internal motions of the core—produces the magnetosphere which protects Earth's atmosphere from the solar wind ...
Heliophysics. The Van Allen radiation belt is a zone of energetic charged particles, most of which originate from the solar wind, that are captured by and held around a planet by that planet's magnetosphere. Earth has two such belts, and sometimes others may be temporarily created.
In physics, the dynamo theory proposes a mechanism by which a celestial body such as Earth or a star generates a magnetic field. The dynamo theory describes the process through which a rotating, convecting, and electrically conducting fluid can maintain a magnetic field over astronomical time scales. A dynamo is thought to be the source of the ...
Earth's magnetosphere preserves its atmosphere and protects life on Earth from cell-damaging radiation. This region of "space weather" is the site of geomagnetic storms that disrupt communications systems and pose radiation hazards to humans traveling in airplanes (at high altitude and latitude) or in orbiting spacecraft.