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A simulation of a charged particle being deflected from the Earth by the magnetosphere. Thus in the "closed" model of the magnetosphere, the magnetopause boundary between the magnetosphere and the solar wind is outlined by field lines. Not much plasma can cross such a stiff boundary. [1]
The magnetosphere of Jupiter is the largest planetary magnetosphere in the Solar System, extending up to 7,000,000 kilometers (4,300,000 mi) on the dayside and almost to the orbit of Saturn on the nightside. [17] Jupiter's magnetosphere is stronger than Earth's by an order of magnitude, and its magnetic moment is approximately 18,000 times ...
Another global field model, called the World Magnetic Model, is produced jointly by the United States National Centers for Environmental Information (formerly the National Geophysical Data Center) and the British Geological Survey. This model truncates at degree 12 (168 coefficients) with an approximate spatial resolution of 3,000 kilometers.
These eddies develop a magnetic field which boosts Earth's original magnetic field—a process which is self-sustaining and is called the geomagnetic dynamo. [19] Reversals of Earth's magnetic field. Based on the MHD equations, Glatzmaier and Paul Roberts have made a supercomputer model of the Earth's interior.
Models can be used to estimate how magnetic fields vary with time and can be compared to observed paleomagnetic data to find similarities between the model and the Earth. Due to the uncertainty of paleomagnetic observations, however, comparisons may not be entirely valid or useful. [ 19 ]
Another process may be magnetic reconnection. Finally, a hydromagnetic dynamo process in the polar regions of the inner magnetosphere may be possible. Direct measurements via satellites have given a fairly good picture of the structure of that field. [3] [4] [5] A number of models of that field exists. [6] [7] [8] [9]
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.
The importance of Earth's magnetic field to the development of complex life has been disputed. The origin of Earth's magnetic field remains a mystery [132] though the presence of a magnetosphere appears to be relatively common for larger planetary mass objects as all Solar System planets larger than Earth possess one. [133]