Solar wind particles can be captured by the Earth's magnetosphere. When these particles spiral down along the magnetic field into the atmosphere, they are responsible for?

Question

Physics

Judith Dominguez

2 February, 21:45

Solar wind particles can be captured by the Earth's magnetosphere. When these particles spiral down along the magnetic field into the atmosphere, they are responsible for?

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Karissa Campos · Answer 1

Solar wind particles can be captured by the Earth's magnetosphere. When these particles spiral down along the magnetic field into the atmosphere, they are responsible for?

Answer is Aurorae.

Explanation:

Solar Wind:

A planet's magnetic filed forms a shield to protect the surface of planet from energetic and charged particles coming from sun and other planets. The sun is continuously sending out charged particles, called Solar wind.

Magnetosphere of planet:

If a planet has a magnetic field then it will interact with the solar wind and deflect the charged particles in the wind. Due to which an elongated cavity in solar wind formed. This cavity is called magnetosphere of the planet.

When Solar wind particles run in a magnetic field, they are deflected and spiral down along magnetic field lines into the atmosphere.

Most of the solar wind particles deflected around the planet but a few particles manage to leak into the magnetic filed and become trapped in the magnetic field of the planet, to create Radiation Belts or Charged Particles Belts.

Variable Solar Wind can give some radiation belt particles with enough energy to spiral down along the magnetic filed into the atmosphere and Create Aurorae

Here Aurorae is an atmospheric phenomenon consisting of Bands, streamers of light, usually yellow, green or red, that move across the sky in the polar regions.