Saturn's Magnetosphere

Artist’s concept of Saturn and its icy moons Enceladus (foreground), Titan (large crescent at upper left), and Rhea (small crescent). Based on imagery from the Cassini spacecraft. Saturn has long inspired astronomers, from Galileo’s first glimpse of its rings in 1610 to the last pictures taken by the Cassini spacecraft as it descended toward the planet’s atmosphere in 2017. But after four centuries of observing Saturn with telescopes, robotic flybys and orbiters, what might it look like to visit in person and witness the jewel of the solar system rising above one of its many natural satellites? Here we imagine the scene.Gazing over the south pole of the small moon Enceladus, geysers burst forth from cracks in the ice, scattering sunlight and forming a luminous veil around Saturn. In the distance, the large moons Rhea (right) and Titan (left) make their rounds of the gas giant’s far side. These bodies were discovered in the 17th century by astronomers Giovanni Domenico Cassini and Christiaan Huygens – the namesakes of the Cassini-Huygens mission, which explored the Saturn system from 2004 to 2017. The wealth of data and imagery returned by Cassini-Huygens vastly improved our understanding of the ringed planet and paved the way for future exploration. For More InformationSee [NASA.gov](https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/main/index.html) Related pages

A simple visualization of Earth's magnetosphere near the time of the equinox. A simple visualization of Earth's magnetosphere near the time of the summer solstice, when the north geographic pole is tipped slightly sunward. A simple visualization of Earth's magnetosphere near the time of the winter solstice, when the north geographic pole is tipped slightly away from the sun. Earth's magnetic field creates a 'bubble' around Earth that helps protect our planet from some of the more harmful effects of energetic particles streaming out from the sun in the solar wind. Some of the earliest hints of this interaction go back to the 1850s with the work of Richard Carrington, and in the early 1900s with the work of Kristian Birkeland and Carl Stormer. That this field might form a type of 'bubble' around Earth was hypothesized by Sidney Chapman and Vincent Ferraro in the 1930s. The term 'magnetosphere' was applied to magnetic bubble by Thomas Gold in 1959. But it wasn't until the Space Age, when we sent the first probes to other planets, that we found clear evidence of their magnetic fields (though there were hints of a magnetic field for Jupiter in the 1950s, due to observations from radio telescopes). In this series of visualizations, we present simplified models of these planetary magnetospheres, designed to illustrate their scale, and basic features of their structure and impacts of the magnetic axes offset from the planetary rotation axes. For this Earth visualization, note that the north magnetic pole points out of the southern hemisphere.For these visualizations, the magnetic field structure is represented by gold/copper lines. The semi-transparent grey mesh in the distance represents the boundary of the magnetosphere. Major satellites of the planetary system are also included.The models are constructed by combining the fields of a simple magnetic dipole and a current sheet (whose intensity is tuned match the scale of the magnetotail). This is a variation of the simple Luhmann-Friesen magnetosphere model. They are meant to be representative of the basic characteristics of the planetary magnetic fields. Some features NOT included are longitudes of magnetic poles to a standard planetary coordinate system and offsets of the dipole center from the planetary center. ReferencesT. Gold, Motions in the Magnetosphere of the EarthLuhmann and Friesen, A simple model of the magnetosphereLASP: Polarity of planetary magnetic fieldsWikipedia: The Solar Storm of 1859Wikipedia: Kristian BirkelandWikipedia: Carl StørmerSpecial thanks to Arik Posner (NASA/HQ) and Gina DiBraccio (UMBC/GSFC) for helpful pointers on orientation of planetary rotation and magnetic axes. Related pages

Jupiter's magnetosphere - a basic view. Jupiter's magnetosphere during the Voyager 1 flyby. Jupiter's magnetosphere during the Voyager 2 flyby. Jupiter's magnetosphere - a basic view. The camera view is from a wide orbit. Earth's magnetic field creates a 'bubble' around Earth that helps protect our planet from some of the more harmful effects of energetic particles streaming out from the sun in the solar wind. Some of the earliest hints of this interaction go back to the 1850s with the work of Richard Carrington, and in the early 1900s with the work of Kristian Birkeland and Carl Stormer. That this field might form a type of 'bubble' around Earth was hypothesized by Sidney Chapman and Vincent Ferraro in the 1930s. The term 'magnetosphere' was applied to magnetic bubble by Thomas Gold in 1959. But it wasn't until the Space Age, when we sent the first probes to other planets, that we found clear evidence of their magnetic fields (though there were hints of a magnetic field for Jupiter in the 1950s, due to observations from radio telescopes). The Voyager program, two spacecraft launched in 1977, and successors to the Pioneer 10 and 11 missions, completed flybys of the giant outer planets. They became the implementation of the 'Grand Tour' of the outer planets originally proposed in the late 1960s. The Voyagers provided some of the first detailed measurments of the strength, extent and diversity of the magnetospheres of the outer planets.In this series of visualizations, we present simplified models of these planetary magnetospheres, designed to illustrate their scale, and basic features of their structure and impacts of the magnetic axes offset from the planetary rotation axes. The volcanic activity on Jupiter's moon Io launches a large amount of sulfur-based compounds along its orbit, which is subsequently ionized by solar ultraviolet radiation. This is represented in the visualization by the yellowish structure along the orbit of Io. This creates a plasma torus and ring current around Jupiter, which alters the planet's magnetic field, forming some of the perturbations in Jupiter's magnetic field along the orbit of Io.For these visualizations, the magnetic field structure is represented by gold/copper lines. The semi-transparent grey mesh in the distance represents the boundary of the magnetosphere. Major satellites of the planetary system are also included. When appropriate for the time window of the visualization, the Voyager flyby trajectories are indicated.The models are constructed by combining the fields of a simple magnetic dipole, a current sheet (whose intensity is tuned match the scale of the magnetotail), and occasionally a ring current. This is a variation of the simple Luhmann-Friesen magnetosphere model. They are meant to be representative of the basic characteristics of the planetary magnetic fields. Some features NOT included are longitudes of magnetic poles to a standard planetary coordinate system and offsets of the dipole center from the planetary center. ReferencesT. Gold, Motions in the Magnetosphere of the EarthLuhmann and Friesen, A simple model of the magnetosphereLASP: Polarity of planetary magnetic fieldsWikipedia: The Solar Storm of 1859Wikipedia: Kristian BirkelandWikipedia: Carl StørmerSpecial thanks to Arik Posner (NASA/HQ) and Gina DiBraccio (UMBC/GSFC) for helpful pointers on orientation of planetary rotation and magnetic axes. Related pages

A basic view of the Uranian magnetosphere when the rotation axis is perpendicular to the Uranus-Sun line and days and nights are of equal duration. A basic view of the Uranian magnetosphere when the northern side of the rotation axis is directed sunward (northern summer). A basic view of the Uranian magnetosphere during the Voyager 2 flyby. A basic view of the Uranian magnetosphere when the rotation axis is perpendicular to the Uranus-Sun line and days and nights are of equal duration. Camera view is a distant orbit. A basic view of the Uranian magnetosphere when the northern side of the rotation axis is directed sunward (northern summer). Camera view is a distant orbit. Earth's magnetic field creates a 'bubble' around Earth that helps protect our planet from some of the more harmful effects of energetic particles streaming out from the sun in the solar wind. Some of the earliest hints of this interaction go back to the 1850s with the work of Richard Carrington, and in the early 1900s with the work of Kristian Birkeland and Carl Stormer. That this field might form a type of 'bubble' around Earth was hypothesized by Sidney Chapman and Vincent Ferraro in the 1930s. The term 'magnetosphere' was applied to magnetic bubble by Thomas Gold in 1959. But it wasn't until the Space Age, when we sent the first probes to other planets, that we found clear evidence of their magnetic fields (though there were hints of a magnetic field for Jupiter in the 1950s, due to observations from radio telescopes). The Voyager program, two spacecraft launched in 1977, and successors to the Pioneer 10 and 11 missions, completed flybys of the giant outer planets. They became the implementation of the 'Grand Tour' of the outer planets originally proposed in the late 1960s. The Voyagers provided some of the first detailed measurments of the strength, extent and diversity of the magnetospheres of the outer planets.In these visualizations, we present simplified models of these planetary magnetospheres, designed to illustrate their scale, and basic features of their structure and impacts of the magnetic axes offset from the planetary rotation axes. The rotation axis of Uranus is tilted over ninety degrees relative to the revolution axis of the solar system, placing it roughly in the plane of the solar system. In addition, the magnetic axis has a large tilt relative to the rotation axis. These effects combine to not only give Uranus a more a more variable magnetosphere, but suggest the planet's magnetic field may be generated by a different mechanism than that of Earth, Jupiter and Saturn.For these visualizations, the magnetic field structure is represented by gold/copper lines. The semi-transparent grey mesh in the distance represents the boundary of the magnetosphere. Major satellites of the planetary system are also included. When appropriate for the time window of the visualization, the Voyager flyby trajectories are indicated.The models are constructed by combining the fields of a simple magnetic dipole, a current sheet (whose intensity is tuned match the scale of the magnetotail), and occasionally a ring current. This is a variation of the simple Luhmann-Friesen magnetosphere model. They are meant to be representative of the basic characteristics of the planetary magnetic fields. Some features NOT included are longitudes of magnetic poles to a standard planetary coordinate system and offsets of the dipole center from the planetary center. ReferencesT. Gold, Motions in the Magnetosphere of the EarthLuhmann & Friesen, A simple model of the magnetosphereMagnetic reconnection at Uranus' magnetopauseLASP: Polarity of planetary magnetic fieldsWikipedia: The Solar Storm of 1859Wikipedia: Kristian BirkelandWikipedia: Carl StørmerSpecial thanks to Arik Posner (NASA/HQ) and Gina DiBraccio (UMBC/GSFC) for helpful pointers on orientation of planetary rotation and magnetic axes. Related pages

A basic view of the Neptunian magnetosphere when the southern side of the rotation axis is directed sunward (southern summer) A basic view of the Neptunian magnetosphere when the rotation axis is perpendicular to the Neptune-Sun line and days and nights are of about equal duration A basic view of the Neptunian magnetosphere during the Voyager 2 flyby. A basic view of the Neptunian magnetosphere when the rotation axis is perpendicular to the Neptune-Sun line and days and nights are of about equal duration. Camera move is distant orbit. A basic view of the Neptunian magnetosphere when the southern side of the rotation axis is directed sunward (southern summer). Camera move is a distant orbit. Earth's magnetic field creates a 'bubble' around Earth that helps protect our planet from some of the more harmful effects of energetic particles streaming out from the sun in the solar wind. Some of the earliest hints of this interaction go back to the 1850s with the work of Richard Carrington, and in the early 1900s with the work of Kristian Birkeland and Carl Stormer. That this field might form a type of 'bubble' around Earth was hypothesized by Sidney Chapman and Vincent Ferraro in the 1930s. The term 'magnetosphere' was applied to magnetic bubble by Thomas Gold in 1959. But it wasn't until the Space Age, when we sent the first probes to other planets, that we found clear evidence of their magnetic fields (though there were hints of a magnetic field for Jupiter in the 1950s, due to observations from radio telescopes). The Voyager program, two spacecraft launched in 1977, and successors to the Pioneer 10 and 11 missions, completed flybys of the giant outer planets. They became the implementation of the 'Grand Tour' of the outer planets originally proposed in the late 1960s. The Voyagers provided some of the first detailed measurments of the strength, extent and diversity of the magnetospheres of the outer planets.In these visualizations, we present simplified models of these planetary magnetospheres, designed to illustrate their scale, and basic features of their structure and impacts of the magnetic axes offset from the planetary rotation axes. The rotation axis of Neptune is highly tilted relative to the revolution axis of the solar system, but nowhere near as extreme as Uranus. It's magnetic axis also has a large tilt relative to the rotation axis. These effects combine to not only give Neptune a more a more variable magnetosphere, but suggest the planet's magnetic field may be generated by a different mechanism than that of Earth, Jupiter and Saturn.For these visualizations, the magnetic field structure is represented by gold/copper lines. The semi-transparent grey mesh in the distance represents the boundary of the magnetosphere. Major satellites of the planetary system are also included. When appropriate for the time window of the visualization, the Voyager flyby trajectories are indicated.The models are constructed by combining the fields of a simple magnetic dipole, a current sheet (whose intensity is tuned match the scale of the magnetotail), and occasionally a ring current. This is a variation of the simple Luhmann-Friesen magnetosphere model. They are meant to be representative of the basic characteristics of the planetary magnetic fields. Some features NOT included are longitudes of magnetic poles to a standard planetary coordinate system and offsets of the dipole center from the planetary center. ReferencesT. Gold, Motions in the Magnetosphere of the EarthLuhmann & Friesen, A simple model of the magnetosphereMagnetic reconnection at Neptune's magnetopauseLASP: Polarity of planetary magnetic fieldsWikipedia: The Solar Storm of 1859Wikipedia: Kristian BirkelandWikipedia: Carl StørmerSpecial thanks to Arik Posner (NASA/HQ) and Gina DiBraccio (UMBC/GSFC) for helpful pointers on orientation of planetary rotation and magnetic axes. Related pages

A simple visualization of Earth's magnetosphere near the time of the equinox. A simple visualization of Earth's magnetosphere near the time of the summer solstice, when the north geographic pole is tipped slightly sunward. A simple visualization of Earth's magnetosphere near the time of the winter solstice, when the north geographic pole is tipped slightly away from the sun. Earth's magnetic field creates a 'bubble' around Earth that helps protect our planet from some of the more harmful effects of energetic particles streaming out from the sun in the solar wind. Some of the earliest hints of this interaction go back to the 1850s with the work of Richard Carrington, and in the early 1900s with the work of Kristian Birkeland and Carl Stormer. That this field might form a type of 'bubble' around Earth was hypothesized by Sidney Chapman and Vincent Ferraro in the 1930s. The term 'magnetosphere' was applied to magnetic bubble by Thomas Gold in 1959. But it wasn't until the Space Age, when we sent the first probes to other planets, that we found clear evidence of their magnetic fields (though there were hints of a magnetic field for Jupiter in the 1950s, due to observations from radio telescopes). The Voyager program , two spacecraft launched in 1977, and successors to the Pioneer 10 and 11 missions, completed flybys of the giant outer planets. They became the implementation of the 'Grand Tour' of the outer planets originally proposed in the late 1960s. The Voyagers provided some of the first detailed measurments of the strength, extent and diversity of the magnetospheres of the outer planets.In these visualizations, we present simplified models of these planetary magnetospheres, designed to illustrate their scale, and basic features of their structure and impacts of the magnetic axes offset from the planetary rotation axes. For this Earth visualization, note that the north magnetic pole points out of the southern hemisphere.For these visualizations, the magnetic field structure is represented by gold/copper lines. Some additional glyphs are provided to indicate some key directions in the field model.The Yellow arrow points towards the sun. The magnetotail is pointed in the opposite direction.The Cyan arrow represents the magnetic axis, usually tilted relative to the rotation axis. The arrow indicates the NORTH magnetic pole (convention has field lines moving north to south as the north pole of bar magnet (and compass pointer) points to the south magnetic pole).The Blue arrow represents the north rotation axis. It is part of the 3-D axis glyph (red, green, and blue arrows) included to make the planetary rotation more apparent.The semi-transparent grey mesh in the distance represents the boundary of the magnetosphere.Major satellites of the planetary system are also included. When appropriate for the time window of the visualization, the Voyager flyby trajectories are indicated.The models are constructed by combining the fields of a simple magnetic dipole, a current sheet (whose intensity is tuned match the scale of the magnetotail), and occasionally a ring current. This is a variation of the simple Luhmann-Friesen magnetosphere model. They are meant to be representative of the basic characteristics of the planetary magnetic fields. Some features NOT included are longitudes of magnetic poles to a standard planetary coordinate system and offsets of the dipole center from the planetary center. ReferencesT. Gold, Motions in the Magnetosphere of the EarthLuhmann and Friesen, A simple model of the magnetosphereLASP: Polarity of planetary magnetic fieldsWikipedia: The Solar Storm of 1859Wikipedia: Kristian BirkelandWikipedia: Carl StørmerSpecial thanks to Arik Posner (NASA/HQ) and Gina DiBraccio (UMBC/GSFC) for helpful pointers on orientation of planetary rotation and magnetic axes. For More InformationSee [NASA.gov](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/nasa-investigates-invisible-magnetic-bubbles-in-outer-solar-system) Related pages

Jupiter's magnetosphere - a basic view. Jupiter's magnetosphere during the Voyager 1 flyby. Jupiter's magnetosphere during the Voyager 2 flyby. Jupiter's magnetosphere - a basic view. The camera view is from a wide orbit. Earth's magnetic field creates a 'bubble' around Earth that helps protect our planet from some of the more harmful effects of energetic particles streaming out from the sun in the solar wind. Some of the earliest hints of this interaction go back to the 1850s with the work of Richard Carrington, and in the early 1900s with the work of Kristian Birkeland and Carl Stormer. That this field might form a type of 'bubble' around Earth was hypothesized by Sidney Chapman and Vincent Ferraro in the 1930s. The term 'magnetosphere' was applied to magnetic bubble by Thomas Gold in 1959. But it wasn't until the Space Age, when we sent the first probes to other planets, that we found clear evidence of their magnetic fields (though there were hints of a magnetic field for Jupiter in the 1950s, due to observations from radio telescopes). The Voyager program , two spacecraft launched in 1977, and successors to the Pioneer 10 and 11 missions, completed flybys of the giant outer planets. They became the implementation of the 'Grand Tour' of the outer planets originally proposed in the late 1960s. The Voyagers provided some of the first detailed measurments of the strength, extent and diversity of the magnetospheres of the outer planets.In these visualizations, we present simplified models of these planetary magnetospheres, designed to illustrate their scale, and basic features of their structure and impacts of the magnetic axes offset from the planetary rotation axes. The volcanic activity on Jupiter's moon Io launches a large amount of sulfur-based compounds along its orbit, which is subsequently ionized by solar ultraviolet radiation. This is represented in the visualization by the yellowish structure along the orbit of Io. This creates a plasma torus and ring current around Jupiter, which alters the planet's magnetic field, forming some of the perturbations in Jupiter's magnetic field along the orbit of Io.For these visualizations, the magnetic field structure is represented by gold/copper lines. Some additional glyphs are provided to indicate some key directions in the field model.The Yellow arrow points towards the sun. The magnetotail is pointed in the opposite direction.The Cyan arrow represents the magnetic axis, usually tilted relative to the rotation axis. The arrow indicates the NORTH magnetic pole (convention has field lines moving north to south as the north pole of bar magnet (and compass pointer) points to the south magnetic pole).The Blue arrow represents the north rotation axis. It is part of the 3-D axis glyph (red, green, and blue arrows) included to make the planetary rotation more apparent.The semi-transparent grey mesh in the distance represents the boundary of the magnetosphere.Major satellites of the planetary system are also included. When appropriate for the time window of the visualization, the Voyager flyby trajectories are indicated.The models are constructed by combining the fields of a simple magnetic dipole, a current sheet (whose intensity is tuned match the scale of the magnetotail), and occasionally a ring current. This is a variation of the simple Luhmann-Friesen magnetosphere model. They are meant to be representative of the basic characteristics of the planetary magnetic fields. Some features NOT included are longitudes of magnetic poles to a standard planetary coordinate system and offsets of the dipole center from the planetary center. ReferencesT. Gold, Motions in the Magnetosphere of the EarthLuhmann and Friesen, A simple model of the magnetosphereLASP: Polarity of planetary magnetic fieldsWikipedia: The Solar Storm of 1859Wikipedia: Kristian BirkelandWikipedia: Carl StørmerSpecial thanks to Arik Posner (NASA/HQ) and Gina DiBraccio (UMBC/GSFC) for helpful pointers on orientation of planetary rotation and magnetic axes. For More InformationSee [NASA.gov](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/nasa-investigates-invisible-magnetic-bubbles-in-outer-solar-system) Related pages

A basic view of the Uranian magnetosphere when the rotation axis is perpendicular to the Uranus-Sun line and days and nights are of equal duration. A basic view of the Uranian magnetosphere when the northern side of the rotation axis is directed sunward (northern summer). A basic view of the Uranian magnetosphere during the Voyager 2 flyby. A basic view of the Uranian magnetosphere when the rotation axis is perpendicular to the Uranus-Sun line and days and nights are of equal duration. Camera view is a distant orbit. A basic view of the Uranian magnetosphere when the northern side of the rotation axis is directed sunward (northern summer). Camera view is a distant orbit. Earth's magnetic field creates a 'bubble' around Earth that helps protect our planet from some of the more harmful effects of energetic particles streaming out from the sun in the solar wind. Some of the earliest hints of this interaction go back to the 1850s with the work of Richard Carrington, and in the early 1900s with the work of Kristian Birkeland and Carl Stormer. That this field might form a type of 'bubble' around Earth was hypothesized by Sidney Chapman and Vincent Ferraro in the 1930s. The term 'magnetosphere' was applied to magnetic bubble by Thomas Gold in 1959. But it wasn't until the Space Age, when we sent the first probes to other planets, that we found clear evidence of their magnetic fields (though there were hints of a magnetic field for Jupiter in the 1950s, due to observations from radio telescopes). The Voyager program , two spacecraft launched in 1977, and successors to the Pioneer 10 and 11 missions, completed flybys of the giant outer planets. They became the implementation of the 'Grand Tour' of the outer planets originally proposed in the late 1960s. The Voyagers provided some of the first detailed measurments of the strength, extent and diversity of the magnetospheres of the outer planets.In these visualizations, we present simplified models of these planetary magnetospheres, designed to illustrate their scale, and basic features of their structure and impacts of the magnetic axes offset from the planetary rotation axes. The rotation axis of Uranus is tilted over ninety degrees relative to the revolution axis of the solar system, placing it roughly in the plane of the solar system. In addition, the magnetic axis has a large tilt relative to the rotation axis. These effects combine to not only give Uranus a more a more variable magnetosphere, but suggest the planet's magnetic field may be generated by a different mechanism than that of Earth, Jupiter and Saturn.For these visualizations, the magnetic field structure is represented by gold/copper lines. Some additional glyphs are provided to indicate some key directions in the field model.The Yellow arrow points towards the sun. The magnetotail is pointed in the opposite direction.The Cyan arrow represents the magnetic axis, usually tilted relative to the rotation axis. The arrow indicates the NORTH magnetic pole (convention has field lines moving north to south as the north pole of bar magnet (and compass pointer) points to the south magnetic pole).The Blue arrow represents the north rotation axis. It is part of the 3-D axis glyph (red, green, and blue arrows) included to make the planetary rotation more apparent.The semi-transparent grey mesh in the distance represents the boundary of the magnetosphere.Major satellites of the planetary system are also included. When appropriate for the time window of the visualization, the Voyager flyby trajectories are indicated.The models are constructed by combining the fields of a simple magnetic dipole, a current sheet (whose intensity is tuned match the scale of the magnetotail), and occasionally a ring current. This is a variation of the simple Luhmann-Friesen magnetosphere model. They are meant to be representative of the basic characteristics of the planetary magnetic fields. Some features NOT included are longitudes of magnetic poles to a standard planetary coordinate system and offsets of the dipole center from the planetary center. ReferencesT. Gold, Motions in the Magnetosphere of the EarthLuhmann & Friesen, A simple model of the magnetosphereMagnetic reconnection at Uranus' magnetopauseLASP: Polarity of planetary magnetic fieldsWikipedia: The Solar Storm of 1859Wikipedia: Kristian BirkelandWikipedia: Carl StørmerSpecial thanks to Arik Posner (NASA/HQ) and Gina DiBraccio (UMBC/GSFC) for helpful pointers on orientation of planetary rotation and magnetic axes. For More InformationSee [NASA.gov](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/nasa-investigates-invisible-magnetic-bubbles-in-outer-solar-system) Related pages

A basic view of the Neptunian magnetosphere when the southern side of the rotation axis is directed sunward (southern summer) A basic view of the Neptunian magnetosphere when the rotation axis is perpendicular to the Neptune-Sun line and days and nights are of about equal duration A basic view of the Neptunian magnetosphere during the Voyager 2 flyby. A basic view of the Neptunian magnetosphere when the rotation axis is perpendicular to the Neptune-Sun line and days and nights are of about equal duration. Camera move is distant orbit. A basic view of the Neptunian magnetosphere when the southern side of the rotation axis is directed sunward (southern summer). Camera move is a distant orbit. Earth's magnetic field creates a 'bubble' around Earth that helps protect our planet from some of the more harmful effects of energetic particles streaming out from the sun in the solar wind. Some of the earliest hints of this interaction go back to the 1850s with the work of Richard Carrington, and in the early 1900s with the work of Kristian Birkeland and Carl Stormer. That this field might form a type of 'bubble' around Earth was hypothesized by Sidney Chapman and Vincent Ferraro in the 1930s. The term 'magnetosphere' was applied to magnetic bubble by Thomas Gold in 1959. But it wasn't until the Space Age, when we sent the first probes to other planets, that we found clear evidence of their magnetic fields (though there were hints of a magnetic field for Jupiter in the 1950s, due to observations from radio telescopes). The Voyager program , two spacecraft launched in 1977, and successors to the Pioneer 10 and 11 missions, completed flybys of the giant outer planets. They became the implementation of the 'Grand Tour' of the outer planets originally proposed in the late 1960s. The Voyagers provided some of the first detailed measurments of the strength, extent and diversity of the magnetospheres of the outer planets.In these visualizations, we present simplified models of these planetary magnetospheres, designed to illustrate their scale, and basic features of their structure and impacts of the magnetic axes offset from the planetary rotation axes. The rotation axis of Neptune is highly tilted relative to the revolution axis of the solar system, but nowhere near as extreme as Uranus. It's magnetic axis also has a large tilt relative to the rotation axis. These effects combine to not only give Uranus a more a more variable magnetosphere, but suggest the planet's magnetic field may be generated by a different mechanism than that of Earth, Jupiter and Saturn.For these visualizations, the magnetic field structure is represented by gold/copper lines. Some additional glyphs are provided to indicate some key directions in the field model.The Yellow arrow points towards the sun. The magnetotail is pointed in the opposite direction.The Cyan arrow represents the magnetic axis, usually tilted relative to the rotation axis. The arrow indicates the NORTH magnetic pole (convention has field lines moving north to south as the north pole of bar magnet (and compass pointer) points to the south magnetic pole).The Blue arrow represents the north rotation axis. It is part of the 3-D axis glyph (red, green, and blue arrows) included to make the planetary rotation more apparent.The semi-transparent grey mesh in the distance represents the boundary of the magnetosphere.Major satellites of the planetary system are also included. When appropriate for the time window of the visualization, the Voyager flyby trajectories are indicated.The models are constructed by combining the fields of a simple magnetic dipole, a current sheet (whose intensity is tuned match the scale of the magnetotail), and occasionally a ring current. This is a variation of the simple Luhmann-Friesen magnetosphere model. They are meant to be representative of the basic characteristics of the planetary magnetic fields. Some features NOT included are longitudes of magnetic poles to a standard planetary coordinate system and offsets of the dipole center from the planetary center. ReferencesT. Gold, Motions in the Magnetosphere of the EarthLuhmann & Friesen, A simple model of the magnetosphereMagnetic reconnection at Neptune's magnetopauseLASP: Polarity of planetary magnetic fieldsWikipedia: The Solar Storm of 1859Wikipedia: Kristian BirkelandWikipedia: Carl StørmerSpecial thanks to Arik Posner (NASA/HQ) and Gina DiBraccio (UMBC/GSFC) for helpful pointers on orientation of planetary rotation and magnetic axes. For More InformationSee [NASA.gov](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/nasa-investigates-invisible-magnetic-bubbles-in-outer-solar-system) Related pages