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ISTP |
December 1998
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Images depicts how Earth's magnetosphere responds to the shock and pressure of the solar wind. When a magnetic cloud of plasma arrives at Earth, it rams into and compresses Earth's magnetosphere. The shock and pressure excited the plasma trapped in Earth's ionosphere to a point where some ions gained enough energy to escape gravity and flow downwind of Earth. Some of it subsequently gets trapped in Earth's magnetic tail and float back toward Earth. CREDIT: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Author: Mike Carlowicz Official NASA Contact: ISTP-Project | NASA Home | Goddard Space Flight Center Home | |
