The magnetosheath is the region of space between the

magnetopause The magnetopause is the abrupt boundary between a magnetosphere and the surrounding plasma. For planetary science, the magnetopause is the boundary between the planet's magnetic field and the solar wind. The location of the magnetopause is d ...

and the

bow shock In astrophysics, a bow shock occurs when the magnetosphere of an astrophysical object interacts with the nearby flowing ambient plasma such as the solar wind. For Earth and other magnetized planets, it is the boundary at which the speed of ...

of a planet's

magnetosphere In astronomy and planetary science, a magnetosphere is a region of space surrounding an astronomical object in which charged particles are affected by that object's magnetic field. It is created by a celestial body with an active interior dynam ...

. The regularly organized

magnetic field A magnetic field is a vector field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular to its own velocity and to ...

generated by the planet becomes weak and irregular in the magnetosheath due to interaction with the incoming

solar wind The solar wind is a stream of charged particles released from the upper atmosphere of the Sun, called the corona. This plasma mostly consists of electrons, protons and alpha particles with kinetic energy between . The composition of the sola ...

, and is incapable of fully deflecting the highly

charged particle In physics, a charged particle is a particle with an electric charge. It may be an ion, such as a molecule or atom with a surplus or deficit of electrons relative to protons. It can also be an electron or a proton, or another elementary particle, ...

s. The density of the particles in this region is considerably lower than what is found beyond the bow shock, but greater than within the

, and can be considered a transitory state. Scientific research into the exact nature of the magnetosheath has been limited due to a longstanding misconception that it was a simple byproduct of the bow shock/magnetopause interaction and had no inherently important properties of its own. Recent studies indicate, however, that the magnetosheath is a dynamic region of turbulent

plasma Plasma or plasm may refer to: Science * Plasma (physics), one of the four fundamental states of matter * Plasma (mineral), a green translucent silica mineral * Quark–gluon plasma, a state of matter in quantum chromodynamics Biology * Blood pla ...

flow that may play an important role in the structure of the bow shock and the magnetopause, and may help to dictate the flow of energetic particles across those boundaries. The

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

's magnetosheath typically occupies the region of space approximately 10 Earth radii on the upwind (

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

-facing) side of the planet, extending significantly farther out on the downwind side due to the pressure of the solar wind. The exact location and width of the magnetosheath does depend on variables such as

solar activity Solar phenomena are natural phenomena which occur within the atmosphere of the Sun. These phenomena take many forms, including solar wind, radio wave flux, solar flares, coronal mass ejections, coronal heating and sunspots. These phenomena are ...

.Ali H. Sulaiman, Adam Masters, Michele K. Dougherty, and Xianzhe Jia "The Magnetic Structure of Saturn's Magnetosheath" from "JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 119, 5651 - 5661, DOI: 10.1002/2014JA020019" (February 2015). https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1502/1502.05504.pdf

References

External links

The Encyclopedia of Astrobiology, Astronomy, and Spaceflight

Planetary science Space plasmas Plasma physics {{astrophysics-stub

See also

References

External links