Earth Sun ID: 20072

Magnetic Fields

Animations by Walt Feimer Released on March 25, 2003

This computer animation illustrates the Earth's space storm shield in action. The solar wind, a thin, high-velocity electrified gas, or plasma, blows constantly from the Sun at an average speed of 250 miles per second (400 kilometers/sec). It is represented as a stream of yellow particles flowing from the Sun. The solar wind impacts the Earth's magnetic field, represented by the blue lines. As the solar wind flows past the Earth's magnetic field, it generates enormous electric currents that heat Earth's space storm shield — a layer in the Earth's electrically charged outer atmosphere (ionosphere) — causing the shield to eject electrically charged oxygen atoms (oxygen ions) into space. The expelled oxygen ions are represented by the green particle streams. The ejected oxygen ions gain tremendous speed as they leave the atmosphere, become trapped by the Earth's magnetic field and ultimately encircle the Earth, where they form a billion-degree plasma cloud around the planet, represented by the red cloud. The blue doughnut shape represents the high-speed flow of these particles around the Earth. The red 'ring of fire' around the Earth's polar regions represents the contribution of the particles to the aurora (the northern and southern lights).

This movie illustrates how the Solar wind contributes to leakage of oxygen from the Earth through the Earth's magnetic field.

For More Information

http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/20020509imagessu.html

Animation Credits

Walt Feimer (HTSI): Lead Animator
Thomas Moore (NASA/GSFC): Scientist

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20072

This item is part of this series:
IMAGE and Neutral Atoms

Keywords:
SVS >> Magnetic Fields
SVS >> Magnetosphere
NASA Science >> Earth
NASA Science >> Sun
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Sun-earth Interactions >> Solar Activity >> Coronal Mass Ejections

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0