What is the magnetosphere?

The magnetosphere consists of the two regions of the magnetic field that surround the earth (shown above). The two magnetic regions are known as the Van Allen radiation belts for the scientists who first discovered them. The inner belt (about 2000 to 5000 kilometers above the Earth) is made up of high energy protons that are produced during the collisions between the earth's atmosphere and cosmic rays. Since the inner belt is very close to the earth, there are very high intensities of protons even though the rate at which they accumulate is very small. However, at double the altitude of the inner belt is the outer belt, which is made up of ions and electrons produced by cosmic rays (they have a lot less energy than the particles of the inner belt). The outer belt also contains alpha particles from the solar wind. When the plasma of the solar wind passes the earth it undergoes some resistance which creates a bow shock. The bow shock represents the point where solar wind particles slow down from supersonic to subsonic speeds.

The heliosphere is the immense magnetic bubble produced by the sun's solar wind interacting with interstellar space. Basically it means that we're like a small boat moving through a lake. The lake being interstellar space and the boat being our solar system. The solar wind contains the entire solar system. It extends well beyond the orbit of Pluto out to the heliopause. The precise shape and location of the heliopause is not yet known but is probably similar to Earth's Magnetosphere. The Voyager and Pioneer spacecraft will probably reach the heliopause in another 10 years or so.

This page was researched and compiled by Michael and Salvador