Earth's Plasmasphere
Explanation:
Our
Earth is surrounded by
plasma.
The overall shape that this ionized gas
plasmasphere takes was discovered last year by
NASA's robot
IMAGE spacecraft,
and shown in the recently released
above image in
ultraviolet light.
The arm of the
plasmasphere pointing toward the
Sun,
on the lower right, was hypothesized but never before seen directly.
The
Earth's shadow
can be seen pointing away from the Sun.
The bright regions in the center are full
auroral rings
over northern Earth, visible as
northern lights from the ground.
The
plasmasphere is thought created by
sunlight energizing molecules in Earth's upper atmosphere
and is contained by
Earth's magnetic field.
IMAGE continues to study how
solar magnetic storms affect Earth and its
magnetic field.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
