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Plasma beta. The beta of a plasma, symbolized by β, is the ratio of the plasma pressure (p = nkBT) to the magnetic pressure (pmag = B2 /2 μ0). The term is commonly used in studies of the Sun and Earth's magnetic field, and in the field of fusion power designs. In the fusion power field, plasma is often confined using strong magnets.
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.
The plasmasphere, or inner magnetosphere, is a region of the Earth's magnetosphere consisting of low-energy (cool) plasma. It is located above the ionosphere. The outer boundary of the plasmasphere is known as the plasmapause, which is defined by an order of magnitude drop in plasma density. In 1963 American scientist Don Carpenter and Soviet ...
This occurs in the limit of large magnetic Reynolds numbers during which magnetic induction dominates over magnetic diffusion at the velocity and length scales under consideration. [5] Consequently, processes in ideal MHD that convert magnetic energy into kinetic energy, referred to as ideal processes , cannot generate heat and raise entropy .
A Birkeland current (also known as field-aligned current, FAC) is a set of electrical currents that flow along geomagnetic field lines connecting the Earth's magnetosphere to the Earth's high latitude ionosphere. In the Earth's magnetosphere, the currents are driven by the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and by bulk motions ...
Magnetosphere particle motion. A sketch of Earth's magnetic field representing the source of Earth's magnetic field as a magnet The North Pole of Earth is near the top of the diagram, the South Pole near the bottom. Notice that the South Pole of that magnet is deep in Earth's interior below Earth's North Magnetic Pole.
Magnetospheric electric convection field. Electric field created by impact of solar wind onto the magnetosphere. The impact of the solar wind onto the magnetosphere generates an electric field within the inner magnetosphere (r < 10 a; with a the Earth's radius) - the convection field. [1] Its general direction is from dawn to dusk.