BSL – Magnetosphere

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Diagram: Magnetosphere

Earth’s magnetosphere
This is the region of space within the influence of Earth’s magnetic field.
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• magnetosphere shields the Earth from the most of the effects of the solar wind.
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• sunward edge of the magnetosphere is called the magnetopause and located about 435,000 miles (700,000 km) from the Earth.
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• immediately to the sunward side of the magnetopause is a shock wave which is called the bow stock – that is caused by the solar wind being deflected by the magnetopause.
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• on the side away from the Sun, the magnetosphere trails away like the tail of comet in what is known as the magnetotail.

BSL Version

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1: Bow shock – immediately to the sunward side of the magnetopause is a shockwave; this is called the bow shock – that is caused by the solar wind being deflected by the magnetopause.
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2: Magnetosheath – the region of space between the magnetopause and the bow shock of a Earth’s magnetosphere.
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3: Magnetopause – the sunward edge of the magnetosphere is called the magnetopause and is located about 438,000 miles from the Earth.
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4: Magnetosphere – the region of space within the influence of earth’s magnetic field – the magnetosphere shields the earth from most of the effects of the solar wind.
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5: Northern tail lobe – on the side away from the Sun – the magnetosphere trails away like the tail of a comet in what is known as the magnetotail.
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6: Southern tail lobe – on the side away from the Sun – the magnetosphere trails away like the tail of a comet in what is known as the magnetotail.
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7: Plasmasphere – Earth’s plasmasphere is an inner part of the magnetosphere. It is located just outside the upper ionosphere located in Earth’s atmosphere.
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BSL Version
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• 8 planets in our solar system – Venus and Mars are the only two that do not have their own magnetosphere.
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• although the magnetosphere deflects most of the charged particles coming from the Sun and cosmic rays, some get through and become concentrated in two doughnut-shaped regions of radiation known as the Van Allen belts.
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• Jupiter has by far the largest magnetosphere and its magnetosphere is located about nearly 4 million miles from the Jupiter’s surface.
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BSL Version
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