{
    "id": 5623,
    "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5623/",
    "page_type": "Visualization",
    "title": "The Moon Passes Through Earth's Magnetotail",
    "description": "The Moon orbits the Earth 13 times a year. During a small part of that orbit, it passes through a special region called Earth's magnetotail, which stretches out on the night side of our planet. While inside the magnetotail, the Moon is protected from the Sun's radiation. But once it leaves the magnetotail, it is again exposed to the solar wind.",
    "release_date": "2026-04-30T08:30:00-04:00",
    "update_date": "2026-04-30T08:09:54.643001-04:00",
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        "filename": "magnetotailMoon_4-10-2026a_magnetotail_Moon.02424_thumb.jpg",
        "media_type": "Image",
        "alt_text": "This is a visualization of the Earth and the Moon inside a dynamic red tadpole-shaped cloud representing the magnetotail. Purple lines dance around showing the motion of the magnetic field. Less than half of the Moon's orbit line is inside the magnetotail.",
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        "height": 1080,
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        "media_type": "Movie",
        "alt_text": "This is a visualization of the Earth and the Moon inside a dynamic red tadpole-shaped cloud representing the magnetotail. Purple lines dance around showing the motion of the magnetic field. Less than half of the Moon's orbit line is inside the magnetotail.",
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    "main_credits": {
        "Visualizations by": [
            {
                "name": "AJ Christensen",
                "employer": "ADNET Systems, Inc."
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        "Scientific consulting by": [
            {
                "name": "Yusuke Ebihara",
                "employer": "Kyoto University"
            }
        ]
    },
    "progress": "Complete",
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            "description": "The Moon orbits the Earth 13 times a year. During a small part of that orbit, it passes through a special region called Earth's magnetotail, which stretches out on the night side of our planet. While inside the magnetotail, the Moon is protected from the Sun's radiation. But once it leaves the magnetotail, it is again exposed to the solar wind. Scientists are actively studying this magnetotail region, and we're excited about what the Moon's monthly visits can teach us. Each time the Moon passes through, it gives us an opportunity to learn more about Earth's magnetic environment and how our planet protects itself from space radiation.",
            "items": [],
            "extra_data": {}
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                        "media_type": "Movie",
                        "alt_text": "This is a visualization of the Earth and the Moon inside a dynamic red tadpole-shaped cloud representing the magnetotail. Purple lines dance around showing the motion of the magnetic field. Less than half of the Moon's orbit line is inside the magnetotail.",
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                        "alt_text": "This is a visualization of the Earth and the Moon inside a dynamic red tadpole-shaped cloud representing the magnetotail. Purple lines dance around showing the motion of the magnetic field. Less than half of the Moon's orbit line is inside the magnetotail.",
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                    "id": 520986,
                    "type": "media",
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                        "id": 1203516,
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                        "media_type": "Movie",
                        "alt_text": "This is a visualization of the Earth and the Moon inside a dynamic red tadpole-shaped cloud representing the magnetotail. Purple lines dance around showing the motion of the magnetic field. Less than half of the Moon's orbit line is inside the magnetotail.",
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                },
                {
                    "id": 520987,
                    "type": "media",
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                        "id": 1203517,
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                        "alt_text": "This is a visualization of the Earth and the Moon inside a dynamic red tadpole-shaped cloud representing the magnetotail. Purple lines dance around showing the motion of the magnetic field. Less than half of the Moon's orbit line is inside the magnetotail.",
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    "studio": "svs",
    "funding_sources": [
        "NASA Heliophysics"
    ],
    "credits": [
        {
            "role": "Data visualizer",
            "people": [
                {
                    "name": "AJ Christensen",
                    "employer": "ADNET Systems, Inc."
                },
                {
                    "name": "Kel Elkins",
                    "employer": "Science and Technology Corporation"
                },
                {
                    "name": "Ernie Wright",
                    "employer": "USRA"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "role": "Scientist",
            "people": [
                {
                    "name": "Yusuke Ebihara",
                    "employer": "Kyoto University"
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "missions": [],
    "series": [],
    "tapes": [],
    "papers": [
        "Generation of field-aligned currents during substorm expansion: An update"
    ],
    "datasets": [
        {
            "name": "REPPU",
            "common_name": "",
            "platform": null,
            "sensor": null,
            "type": "Model",
            "organizations": [],
            "description": "",
            "credit": "Tanaka, T., Nakamizo, A., Yoshikawa, A., Fujita, S., Shinagawa, H., Shimazu, H., et al. Substorm convection and current system deduced from the global simulation. Journal of Geophysical Research, 115(A5), A05220. https://www.doi.org/10.1029/2009JA014676 (2010).",
            "url": "",
            "date_range": ""
        }
    ],
    "nasa_science_categories": [
        "Planets & Moons",
        "Sun"
    ],
    "keywords": [
        "Heliophysics",
        "Magnetosphere",
        "magnetotail",
        "Moon",
        "Solar Wind"
    ],
    "recommended_pages": [],
    "related": [
        {
            "id": 5617,
            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5617/",
            "page_type": "Visualization",
            "title": "ESCAPADE Visits the Distant Magnetotail",
            "description": "Launched on Nov. 13, 2025, NASA’s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) mission will use two identical spacecraft to investigate how the solar wind interacts with Mars’ magnetic environment and how this interaction drives the planet’s atmospheric escape.",
            "release_date": "2026-02-26T10:30:00-05:00",
            "update_date": "2026-02-27T16:54:57.323903-05:00",
            "main_image": {
                "id": 1202155,
                "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a005600/a005617/magnetotail_2-24-2026a_magnetotail_ESCAPADE_thumb.png",
                "filename": "magnetotail_2-24-2026a_magnetotail_ESCAPADE_thumb.png",
                "media_type": "Image",
                "alt_text": "This visualization shows a computer model of Earth's magnetotail evolving over the course of 8 hours, colored by temperature. The cyan trails show where the ESCAPADE spacecraft will be flying on March 4, 2026.",
                "width": 1920,
                "height": 1080,
                "pixels": 2073600
            }
        }
    ],
    "sources": [],
    "products": [],
    "newer_versions": [],
    "older_versions": [],
    "alternate_versions": [
        {
            "id": 5644,
            "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5644/",
            "page_type": "Visualization",
            "title": "The Moon Passes Through Earth's Magnetotail for Fulldome",
            "description": "The Moon orbits the Earth 13 times a year. During a small part of that orbit, it passes through a special region called Earth's magnetotail, which stretches out on the night side of our planet. While inside the magnetotail, the Moon is protected from the Sun's radiation. But once it leaves the magnetotail, it is again exposed to the solar wind.",
            "release_date": "2026-04-30T08:30:00-04:00",
            "update_date": "2026-04-30T08:19:06.653643-04:00",
            "main_image": {
                "id": 1203519,
                "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a005600/a005644/magnetotailMoon_gridSun_4-21-2026b.02424_thumb.jpg",
                "filename": "magnetotailMoon_gridSun_4-21-2026b.02424_thumb.jpg",
                "media_type": "Image",
                "alt_text": "This is a visualization of the Earth and the Moon inside a dynamic red tadpole-shaped cloud representing the magnetotail. Purple lines dance around showing the motion of the magnetic field. Less than half of the Moon's orbit line is inside the magnetotail.",
                "width": 1920,
                "height": 1080,
                "pixels": 2073600
            }
        }
    ]
}