Abstract: In this article, I describe some of the reasons for the existence of radiation belts around the Earth and other planets and some of their basic properties. A radiation belt is an important component of a larger and more complex physical system called a magnetosphere. In another article in this series [see sidebar] the similarities and differences among the diverse and dynamic planetary magnetospheres that have been investigated thus far will be discussed in a more general context. A magnetosphere is that region surrounding a planet within which the planet's intrinsic magnetic field has an important role in physical phenomena involving electrically charged particles. But even unmagnetized planets, satellites of planets, comets, and (presumably) asteroids exhibit similar rudimentary plasma physical effects. The Earth's magnetosphere extends about 10 planetary radii toward the Sun and hundreds of times that far in the direction away from the Sun. Its outer boundaries and much of its physical dynamics are attributed to the solar wind—the tenuous, ionized, magnetized gas (plasma) that flows outward from the solar corona through interplanetary space. The solar wind does not readily penetrate the geomagnetic field but compresses and confines the field around the Earth. The sunward boundary is located where the external pressure of the flowing solar wind equals the internal pressure of the geomagnetic field. A complex process of interconnection of the solar wind's magnetic field and the geomagnetic field stretches out the magnetic field in the direction away from the Sun, creating the long magnetotail.
Publication Year: 1991
Publication Date: 1991-08-20
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 2
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