Current Systems
Currents in a magnetosphere are like veins in the human body. They carry particles from one region to another. There are three main currents in a magnetosphere.
- Chapman-Ferraro currents (in green)
- cross-tail currents (in blue)
- Field-Aligned currents (FAC's) in red)
The Chapman-Ferraro currents go around the outside of the magnetosphere and confine it.
Cross-tail currents pass through the center of the magnetotail, so that region is known as the "current sheet".
Field-Aligned currents show up sometimes (during magnetic storms), when particles need to take a short cut through a planet's atmosphere. These currents cause the aurora at the north and south p
oles.
Return to "What is a Magnetosphere?"
You might also be interested in:
A magnetosphere has many parts, such as the bow shock, magnetosheath, magnetotail, plasmasheet, lobes, plasmasphere, radiation belts and many electric currents. Particles in the magnetosphere cause aurora
...more
This picture shows the flowing of particles into and out of the auroral zone, as Field-Aligned currents (FAC's) take at short-cut through the atmosphere. Some of the particles entering the auroral zone
...more
AU stands for Astronomical Units. It is an easy way to measure large distances in space. It is the distance between the Earth and the Sun, which is about 93 million miles. For really big distances, we
...more
The solar wind is formed as the Sun's top layer blows off into space. It carries magnetic fields still attached to the Sun. Streams appear to flow into space as if they are spiraling out from the Sun,
...more
For a planet to be affected by a blob of material being ejected by the sun, the planet must be in the path of the blob, as shown in this picture. The Earth and its magnetosphere are shown in the bottom
...more
If someone says they saw an aurora, you might picture something like this. There is another type of aurora that we can't see. These aurora are called SAR arcs. The SAR stands for Stable Auroral Red. That
...more
This figure shows the effect of the aurora on the atmosphere. When FAC's enter the atmosphere and create the aurora, they heat the atmosphere suddenly and abruptly. This creates an impulse which travels
...more
