What is the direction of the electric current across the dayside magnetopause?
The current flows eastward across the dayside of Earth and then westward around a “neutral point” (so called because the total field is nearly zero at this location). The current is symmetrical about the equatorial plane and encloses a volume of space known as the magnetosphere.
Does the ionosphere interact with solar wind?
These escape flows, whether due to tailward flow from the ionosphere or to scavenging, are related to the solar wind interaction processes. These reconnection events must depend on the specific location of the crustal field with respect to the subsolar location and solar wind parameters, such as magnetic field angle.
What is required for a magnetosphere to exist?
The formation of a magnetosphere requires that the dipolar field is strong enough for the obstacle effective size to be larger (Dp > 20λi) than ion scales. In this case a bow shock, magnetosheath, magnetospheric system is driven, and the flow is modified far upstream.
In which direction do solar wind protons gyrate when entering the geomagnetic field?
When solar wind particles encounter Earth’s field, they are bent from their paths by the Lorentz force. As noted above, protons gyrate in a left-handed sense around a magnetic field and electrons in a right-handed sense.
What is the function of magnetopause?
The Earth’s magnetopause is the result of the interaction between the supersonic solar wind and the Earth’s magnetic field. It basically separates the interplanetary magnetic field from the Earth’s magnetic field and prevents most solar wind plasma from entering the Earth’s magnetosphere.
What is the name of the boundary that separates Earth’s magnetosphere from the solar wind What happens when you crossed this boundary?
the magnetopause
For planetary science, the magnetopause is the boundary between the planet’s magnetic field and the solar wind….Solar System magnetopauses.
| Planet | Earth |
|---|---|
| Number | 3 |
| Magnetic moment | 1 |
| Magnetopause distance | 10 |
| Observed size of the magnetosphere | 10 |
Is ionosphere a part of thermosphere?
Ionosphere. The ionosphere is not a distinct layer like the others mentioned above. Instead, the ionosphere is a series of regions in parts of the mesosphere and thermosphere where high-energy radiation from the Sun has knocked electrons loose from their parent atoms and molecules.
Is ionosphere and magnetosphere same?
Scientific Framework. The magnetosphere is defined as the region of space above the Earth’s ionosphere in which charged-particle motion is dominated by the geomagnetic field. This current layer is termed the magnetopause, and it separates the geomagnetic field from the field and plasma of the solar wind.
What does a magnetosphere do?
The magnetosphere shields our home planet from solar and cosmic particle radiation, as well as erosion of the atmosphere by the solar wind – the constant flow of charged particles streaming off the sun.
What causes a magnetosphere?
The magnetosphere is formed by the interaction of the solar wind with Earth’s magnetic field. The pressure of the solar wind on Earth’s magnetic field compresses the field on the dayside of Earth and stretches the field into a long tail on the nightside.
What is magnetospheric plasma?
The magnetopause is the area of the magnetosphere wherein the pressure from the planetary magnetic field is balanced with the pressure from the solar wind. The structure of the magnetopause depends upon the Mach number and beta of the plasma, as well as the magnetic field.
What is the name of the boundary that separates Earth’s magnetosphere from the solar wind?
For planetary science, the magnetopause is the boundary between the planet’s magnetic field and the solar wind. The location of the magnetopause is determined by the balance between the pressure of the dynamic planetary magnetic field and the dynamic pressure of the solar wind.
How are electric currents related to the magnetosphere?
An electric current is associated with a magnetic field, and they combine with the Earth’s internally generated dipolar magnetic field to form the topology of the magnetosphere. The concept of an electric current is reviewed and compared with other approaches to investigate the physics of the magnetosphere.
Are there electric currents in the Near Earth space?
Near-Earth space is also a place to find electric currents. Ever since the invention of magnetometers sensitive enough to detect perturbations to the Earth’s field on the order of a percent or better, currents that are related to the magnetic fields through Ampere’s law have been known to exist in the near-Earth space (e.g., Gillmor, 1997 ).
What is the definition of an electric current?
Specifically, an electric current refers to a net flow in charge from one location to another within the system. The mass flow, especially for electric currents dominated by electron motion, could be insignificant, but the influence on the system could still be dramatic.
How does the current flow in a power line?
A force is there and the electric current wants to flow, once the resistance is small enough to allow it. Power lines, however, come in pairs, and the current into the plug along one prong is matched by an equal current out of the plug along the other prong. Eventually, the electric current completes a circuit back to the voltage source.