Earth's Magnetic Field and the Van Allen Belts and Auroras

The Earth is encased in a magnetic field, which is generated by the rotating, liquid iron core at the center of the planet (otherwise known as a “dynamo”).

Without Earth’s magnetic field, cosmic storms and high energy particles would strip away our atmosphere, destroying our cellular structure and evaporating our oceans in the process.

Luckily for us, we have our magnetic shield (the magnetosphere) to protect us from most of these harmful particles.

An aurora, sometimes referred to as polar lights (aurora polaris), northern lights (aurora borealis), or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in the Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic).

A Van Allen radiation belt is a zone of energetic charged particles, most of which originate from the solar wind, that are captured by and held around a planet by that planet's magnetic field.

Earth has two such belts, and sometimes others may be temporarily created. The belts are named after James Van Allen, who is credited with their discovery. Earth's two main belts extend from an altitude of about 640 to 58,000 km above the surface, in which region radiation levels vary. Most of the particle

QUIZ "Earth's Magnetic Field"