Plasmasphere
The plasmasphere, or inner
History
The discovery of the plasmasphere grew out of the scientific study of
In 1965 Storey and French scientist M. P. Aubry worked on
In 2014 satellite observations from the THEMIS mission have shown that density irregularities such as plumes or biteouts may form.[6][7] It has also been shown that the plasmasphere does not always co-rotate with the Earth. The plasma of the magnetosphere has many different levels of temperature and concentration. The coldest magnetospheric plasma is most often found in the plasmasphere. However, plasma from the plasmasphere can be detected throughout the magnetosphere because it gets blown around by the Earth's electric and magnetic fields. Data gathered by the twin Van Allen Probes show that the plasmasphere also limits highly-energetic ultrarelativistic electrons from cosmic and solar origin from reaching low earth orbits and the surface of the planet.[8][9]
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A view from the IMAGE satellite showing Earth's plasmasphere using its Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) imager instrument.
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Visualization of the radiation belts with confined charged particles (blue & yellow) and plasmapause boundary (blue-green surface).
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Gallagher, D. L. (27 May 2015). "Discovering the Plasmasphere". Space Plasma Physics. Huntsville, AL: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Owen Storey". Engineering and Technology History Wiki. 29 January 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
- .
- ^ Storey, Llewelyn Robert Owen (1967). "Preliminary results on VLF propagation in the lower magnetosphere obtained by the FR 1 satellite". Space Research (7). Amsterdam: North Holland Publishing Co.: 588–603.
- .
- ^ Karen C. Fox (March 6, 2014). "NASA's THEMIS Discovers New Process that Protects Earth from Space Weather". www.nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
- S2CID 206553014.
- ^ "Star Trek-like invisible shield protects Earth from 'killer electrons' - Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times. 27 November 2014.
- ^ "Plasma shield".
Further reading
- Carpenter, D. L., Whistler evidence of a 'knee' in the magnetospheric ionization density profile, J. Geophys. Res., 68, 1675–1682, 1963.
- Nishida, A., Formation of plasmapause, or magnetospheric plasma knee, by combined action of magnetospheric convections and plasma escape from the tail, J. Geophys. Res., 71, 5669, 1966.
- Sandel, B. R., et al., Extreme ultraviolet imager observations of the structure and dynamics of the plasmasphere, Space Sci. Rev., 109, 25, 2003.