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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.
Inside the magnetosphere is the plasmasphere, a donut-shaped region containing low-energy charged particles, or plasma. This region begins at a height of 60 km, extends up to 3 or 4 Earth radii, and includes the ionosphere. This region rotates with the Earth. [28]
The heliosphere is the magnetosphere, astrosphere, and outermost atmospheric layer of the Sun.It takes the shape of a vast, tailed bubble-like region of space.In plasma physics terms, it is the cavity formed by the Sun in the surrounding interstellar medium.
Schematic of the Birkeland or Field-Aligned Currents and the ionospheric current systems they connect to, Pedersen and Hall currents. [1]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.
The ionosphere is the inner edge of the magnetosphere and is the part of the atmosphere that is ionized by solar radiation. (Photoionization is a physical process in which a photon is incident on an atom, ion or molecule, resulting in the ejection of one or more electrons.) [24]
A second method detects the light from nitrogen fluorescence caused by the excitation of nitrogen in the atmosphere by particles moving through the atmosphere. This method is the most accurate for cosmic rays at highest energies, in particular when combined with EAS arrays of particle detectors. [ 84 ]
The amount of solar wind energy and plasma entering the actual magnetosphere depends on how far it departs from such a "closed" configuration, i.e. the extent to which Interplanetary Magnetic Field field lines manage to cross the boundary. As discussed further below, that extent depends very much on the direction of the Interplanetary Magnetic ...
An aurora is a natural light display in the sky, especially in the high latitude (Arctic and Antarctic) regions, in the form of a large circle around the pole. It is caused by the collision of solar wind and charged magnetospheric particles with the high altitude atmosphere (thermosphere).