1. What is the Magnetosphere?
The magnetosphere is that area of space, around the Earth, that is controlled by the Earth's magnetic field. Did you know that the Earth's environment extends all the way from the sun to the Earth and beyond? It is not an empty wasteland of space. Instead, near-Earth space is full of streaming particles, electromagnetic radiation, and constantly changing electric and magnetic fields. All of these things make up our magnetosphere. It is important to learn as much about this space around the Earth as we would about any other part of the Earth's environment. The magnetosphere helps to protect our Earth from the danger of the Sun's solar wind. Let's find out how ...

2. AGU Web Site: A Beginner s Guide to the Earth s Magnetosphere
SPACE PHYSICS A Beginner's Guide to the Earth's Magnetosphere Earth in Space Vol. 8, No. 7, March 1996, p.9. © 1996 American Geophysical Union. Permission is hereby granted to journalists to use this material so long as credit is given, and to teachers to use this material in classrooms. The magnetosphere is the region of space to which the Earth's magnetic field is confined by the solar wind plasma blowing outward from the Sun, extending to distances in excess of 60,000 kilometers from Earth. Much has been learned about this dynamic plasma region over the past 40 years, since the first direct measurements were made by the early Sputnik and Explorer spacecraft. by Stanley W. H. Cowley, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom

3. Magnetosphere [Oulu]
Magnetosphere (Earth's) - Introduction Earth is one of the planets that has a strong internal magnetic field. In the absence of any external drivers, the geomagnetic field can be approximated by a dipole field with an axis tilted about 11 degrees from the spin axis. The forcing by the solar wind is able to modify this field, creating a cavity called the magnetosphere. This cavity shelters the surface of the planet from the high energy particles of the solar wind. The outer boundary of the magnetosphere is called the magnetopause. In front of the dayside magnetopause another boundary called the bow shock is formed because the solar wind is supersonic. The region between the bow shock and the magnetopause is called the magnetosheath. At low-altitude limit, magnetosphere ends at the ionosphere. The magnetosphere is filled with plasma that originates both from the ionosphere and the solar wind.

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