The Magnetosphere

Topics Include :-

What Powers the Earth's Magnetic Field?

Sacred Geometry, the Pyramid and the Moon/Earth Ratio

Vortex Size Given in Oahspe

Magnetospheres

Coupling

Ionosphere

Magnetic Field Reconnection

The Ring Current

The Van Allen Belt

The Io Plasma Torus

What Powers the Earth's Magnetic Field?

There is a gap in knowledge of the cause of earths rotation, magnetic field and electric belts.
The electric currents within the Earth require extremely sensitive instrumentation. How can such small hard to detect currents generate such an awesome magnetic field?
What is causing these Earth's currents? Where is the power coming from? In all cases, these currents would require power or energy to sustain themselves. Some scientists believe the power is coming from the kinetic energy stored in the rotational mass of the Earth. If this is true, then how much kinetic energy is required to support a magnetic moment as large as the Earth?
Based on a study by G. D. Gibson and P. H. Roberts at University of Newcastle upon Tyne; assuming a radius of the size of the Earth, the magnetic permeability of the Earth's materials and electrical conductivity of those materials the decay time of a conducting sphere is about 15,000 years.
The Earth's currents, like the magnetic field, require a force to sustain them. This force must be much grander in scale than the Earth's rotational momentum.
The Dynamo Theory is based on motion. The rotation of the body generates the necessary forces to create the generation of a magnetic field. Now, if this were true, then Mercury which rotates very slowly compared to the Earth and Mars, should have little or no magnetic field. Mars which rotates at close to the speed of Earth should have close to the same magnetic field as Earth. This is not the case. Mars has a very small magnetic field and Mercury has a strong magnetic field.

Within the plasma sheet are currents of electrical particles flowing perpendicular to the plane of the Sun and Earth. There are two currents, one in the northern sector and one in the southern sector of the plasma sheet. Between the two currents is a neutral sheet where current flows together. The potentials of 1 to 8 thousand volts are commonly present.
Areas as the Van Allen radiation belts potentials can be as high as 100 million volts. Because these are high currents and are of astronomical size in a high resistance environment P = I² × R, the energy required to support the currents is astronomical. The energy of the proportions such that if applied to stop the Earth, it could bring the Earth to a stand still within one revolution about the Sun.

http://www.1stardrive.com/solar/earth.htm

Plasma Fountain
This figure depicts the oxygen, helium, and hydrogen ions that gush into space from regions near the Earth's poles. The faint yellow gas shown above the north pole represents gas lost from Earth into space; the green gas is the aurora borealis-or plasma energy pouring back into the atmosphere

The oahspe tells us:
7. Things fall not to the earth because of the magnetism therein, but they are driven toward the center of the vortex, by the power of the vortex.
8. The greater diameter of the vortex is east and west; the lesser diameter north and south, with an inclination and oscillation relatively like the earth.
9. The name of the force of the vortex is called vortexya, that is, positive force, because it is arbitrary and exerteth east and west. As in the case of a wheel turning on its axis, its force will be at right angles with its axis, the extreme center of which will be no force.
10. For which reason the north and south line of the earth's vortex is called the m'vortexya, or negative force, for it is the subject of the other. As a whirlwind gathereth up straw and dust, which travel toward the center of the whirlwind, and to the poles thereof, even so do corporeal substances incline to approach the poles of the earth's vortex. Which may be proved by poising a magnetized needle.
15. The positive force of the vortex is from the external toward the internal; and the negative force of the vortex is toward the poles, and in the ascendant toward the pole external from the sun center.
16. Whereof it may be said the force of the vortex is toward its own center, but turneth at the center and escapeth outward at the north pole. As one may draw a line from the east to the center of the earth, thence in a right angle due north, which would be the current of the vortex until the center were filled with a corporeal body. After which the same power applieth, and is all one power, although for convenience called positive and negative.

Book Of Cosmogony And Prophecy Ch I.

The best magnetic field theory I've found tells us:
"The earth's mantle covers a fluid core which itself has a solid core. The fluid layer has a ferrous material. It rotates in the electrostatic field of the sun, which causes eddy currents in the core. This large rotating electric current creates a magnetic field which is at right angles to itself, and because the current flow is around the equator this magnetic field points towards the poles of the earth's axis."

Sacred Geometry, the Pyramid and the Moon/Earth Ratio

The Golden Mean, sometimes referred to as the The Sacred Cut or The Phi (Φ) Ratio, has connections with Galactic and Atomic mathematics, is revealed in ancient temples and pyramids and in the nesting of the 5 Platonic Solids. It is encrypted in the Fibonacci Sequence and in the counter-rotating fields or spirals of the sunflower and pinecones.

In the diagram (left), the big triangle is the same proportion and angle of the Great Pyramid, with its base angles at 51 degrees 51 minutes. If you bisect this triangle and assign a value of 1 to each base, then the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) equals Φ (1.618..) and the perpendicular side equals the square root of Φ.
A circle drawn with it's centre and diameter the same as the base of the large triangle to represent the circumference of the earth. A square is then drawn to touch the outside of the earth circle. A second circle is then drawn around the first one, with its circumference equal to the perimeter of the square. (The squaring of the circle.)
This new circle will actually pass exactly through the apex of the pyramid. A circle drawn with its centre at the apex of the pyramid and its radius just long enough to touch the earth circle, will have the circumference of the moon!

A Verification

The Great Pyramid was originally 481 feet, five inches tall (146.7 meters, or 5,777 inches) and measured 755 feet (230.4 meters or 9060 inches) along its sides.

17. The width of the inclined plane was the same as the width of the temple, but the whole length of the inclined plane was four hundred and forty lengths (of a man).

Book Of Wars Against Jehovih Ch XLIX

It is said that π (3.1415927) is equal to two times one side of the Great Pyramid base divided by the height
then:
Two times a side ÷ height = 230 meters × 2 ÷ 146.7 meters = 3.1356
Or in inches:
Two times a side ÷ height = 9060 inches × 2 ÷ 5,777 inches = 3.1366

For the pyramid in the diagram:
Two times a side ÷ height = 2 × 2 ÷ (square root of Φ [1.618]) = 4 ÷ 1.2720 = 3.1446
π actually = 3.1415927
So sacred geometry is not exact in this case.

Here's a different version:
(I cant remember where I got these figures from)
The perimeter of the base divided by twice the height = π to 5 decimal places {9131 × 4 ÷ (5813 × 2) = 3.141579...}
c/f
9060 × 4 ÷ (5777 × 2) = 3.136576

The ancient Egyptians had, through the use of tangential corridors, obelisks and light wells, the ability to divide a year in half or quarters with an accuracy of plus or minus 15 seconds.

The Earth's diameter = 7926 miles
The Moon's diameter = 2,160 miles
Root Φ = (7926 miles + 2,160 miles) ÷ 2 = 10,086 ÷ 2 = 5043 miles
Earth's diameter ÷ 2 = 7926 ÷ 2 = 3963 miles

The Earth and Moon's sizes are related to a "Golden Right Triangle" (ie. one which has sides in proportion to Φ as shown).
Tan of Pyramid angle = Root Φ ÷ (Earth's diameter ÷ 2) = 5043 miles ÷ 3963 miles = 1.2725
Artan of 1.2725 = 51.83 degrees
which also happens to be the angle of the Great Pyramid.

Extra Information

When viewed from Earth's North pole the Earth and Moon rotate counter-clockwise about their axes; the Moon orbits Earth counter-clockwise and Earth orbits the Sun counter-clockwise.
Earth and Moon orbit about their barycenter, or common center of mass, which lies about 2,920 miles from Earth's center (about 3/4 of the way to the surface). Since the barycenter is located below the Earth's surface, Earth's motion is described as a "wobble".
The Moon's synchronous rotation (the same face is turned to the Earth at all times) is only true on average because the Moon's orbit has definite eccentricity. As a result it does not orbit at a constant speed. However it rotates at a constant speed. When the Moon is at its perigee, its rotation is slower than its orbital motion, and this allows us to see up to an extra eight degrees of longitude of its East (right) side.
Conversely, when the Moon reaches its apogee, its rotation is faster than its orbital motion and reveals another eight degrees of longitude of its West (left) side. This is called longitudinal libration.
The line of apsides is the major axis of an elliptical orbit.

The lunar orbital inclination (which varies between 28.60° and 18.30°) is measured with respect to the Earth's equatorial plane. The Moon moves about 13° eastwards against the background of stars as a consequence of its revolution around the Earth.
The plane of the lunar orbit maintains an inclination of 5.145 396° with respect to the ecliptic (the orbital plane of the Earth around the Sun).

Because the lunar orbit is also inclined to the Earth's equator, the Moon seems to oscillate up and down (as a person's head does when nodding) as it moves in celestial latitude (declination). This is called latitudinal libration and reveals the Moon's polar zones over about seven degrees of latitude.
The lunar Axial tilt is measured with respect to the normal to the Moon's orbital plane, compared with which it varies from between 3.60° and 6.69°. This means that sometimes the Moon's North Pole is tilted towards the Earth and sometimes tilted away.

lunar libration

The points where the Moon's orbit crosses the ecliptic are called the "lunar nodes": the North (or ascending) node is where the Moon crosses to the North of the ecliptic; the South (or descending) node where it crosses to the South. Solar eclipses occur when a node coincides with the new Moon; lunar eclipses when a node coincides with the full Moon.
Roughly once every 18.6 years, the declination of the Moon reaches a maximum, which is called the lunar standstill.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon

Oahspe says:
That the periphery of the vortex is undulated ; and the extent of its undulation can be determined by the minimum and maximum distance of the satellite from its planet.

[It might be thought that this effect is latitudinal libration, yet this is apparent (like the sun that appears to go around the earth) whereas the undulations are given here as physically real.]

14. In consequence of this discrepancy, the lens power of the vortex of the earth varies constantly, even daily, monthly and yearly. Nevertheless, the sum of heat and cold and the sum of light and darkness are nearly the same, one generation with another. This was, by the ancient prophets, called the FIRST RULE IN PROPHECY. This was again subdivided by three, into eleven years, whereof it was found that one eleven years nearly corresponded with another eleven years. This was the SECOND RULE IN PROPHECY. The THIRD RULE was NINETY- NINE YEARS, whereto was added one year.
15. In the case of the tides, a still further allowance of six years was found necessary to two hundred; but in the succeeding four hundred years a deduction was required of five years. Whereupon the moon's time was eighteen years.
16. As the lens power loseth by flattening the vortex, and increaseth by rounding the vortex, it will be observed that the position of the moon's vortex relatively to the earth's, is a fair conclusion as to the times of ebb and flood tide.

[The equivalent science explaination seems to be:
The tidal flow period, but not the phase, is synchronized to the Moon's orbit around Earth.

Two tidal bulges, one in the direction of the Moon, and one in the opposite direction (first figure) form as a result of the tidal forces caused by the moon's gravitation. Since the Earth spins faster than the Moon moves around it, the tidal bulges are dragged along with the Earth's surface faster than the Moon moves, and move "in front of the Moon" (next figure). Because of this, the Earth's gravitational pull on the Moon has a component in the Moon's "forward" direction with respect to its orbit. Because the Moon is accelerated in forward direction, it moves to a higher orbit. As a result, the distance between the Earth and Moon increases, and the Earth's spin slows down (last figure).]

In periods of thirty-three years, therefore, tables can be constructed expressing very nearly the variations of vortexya for every day in the year, and to prophesy correctly as to the winters and summers, so far as light and darkness, and heat and cold, are concerned. This flattening and rounding of the vortexian lens of the earth is one cause of the wonderful differences between the heat of one summer compared with another, and of the difference in the coldness of winters, as compared with one another. Of these also, tables can be made. Winter tables made by the ancients were based on periods of six hundred and sixty-six years, and were called SATAN'S TABLES, or the TIMES OF THE BEAST. Tables made on such a basis are superior to calculations made on the relative position of the moon.
17. But where they have prophesied ebb and flood tide to be caused by certain positions of the moon, they have erred in suffering themselves to ignorantly believe the cause lay with the moon.

Book of Cosmogony and Prophecy Ch III:13

Vortex Size Given in Oahspe

Book of Knowlege 4.22

God's Book of Ben Ch 1. Plate 23 Earth and atmosphere

C_a = π × D_a (Earth's atmosphere diameter)                       D_a = C_a ÷ π
Therefore the Earth's atmosphere diameter (D_a) = 1,504,000 ÷ 3.1416 = 478,738 miles broad
R_a = D_a ÷ 2 = 239,369 miles         earth's radius (R_E) = 3959 miles
Therefore the Earth's atmosphere is 239,369 ÷ 3959 = 60.462 R_E from the Earth's center.

Earth and Atmospherea, (as seen through spiritual eyes). The earth is the black center, and the surrounding swirled gradations of gray, her atmospherea. The rings symbolize plateaus; the outer rim, Chinvat.

Book of Cosmogony and Prophecy Ch I:3

The Earth's diameter = 7926 miles
The formula for a circumference of a circle (C) is C = π × D
Where D = diameter = 2 × radius and π = 3.14159265
C = π × D = π × Earth's diameter = 3.14159265 × 7,926 = 24,900 miles
The formula for velocity (V) is V = distance ÷ time
Velocity near the earth's surface = 24,900 miles ÷ 24 hours = 1,038 miles/hr [approximely 1,000 miles an hour]

I have noticed that there are discrepancies of the 1882 Oahspe Edition with the 1891 Edition in Cosmogony and Prophecy Ch. 1 verse 4 and 5

My English Oahspe (the 1891 Edition which has a few alterations made by Dr. Newbrough) says:
"The moon hath a vortex surrounding it also, which hath a rotation axially once a month, but being an open vortex turneth not the moon. All vortices do not lay in contact with the planet, in which case it is called a dead planet. The SEMI DIAMETER OF THE moon's vortex is ten times the moon's diameter, and THE SEMI DIAMETER OF THE earth's vortex thirty times the earth's diameter".

Book of Cosmogony and Prophecy Ch I:4

Semi diameter of the earth's vortex = 30 × 7,926 miles = 237,780 miles
So the earth's vortex would be 237,780 × 2 = 475,560 miles broad.

The Moon's diameter = 2,160 miles
Semi diameter of the moon's vortex is ten times it's diameter = 10 × 2,160 miles = 21,600 miles.

But the 1882 Oahspe Edition says:
"The moon's vortex is ten times the moon's diameter, and the earth's vortex thirty times the earth's diameter."

Then the earth's vortex is 237,780 miles broad and the moon's vortex is 21,600 miles broad.

Science says:
"The distance (which can vary) from the magnetosphere's boundary on the side facing the Sun to the Earth's center is about 43,496 miles (10-12 Earth radii or R_E, where 1 R_E=3960 miles). The magnetopause (flanks 15 R_E abreast of the Earth) is roughly bullet shaped, and on the night side (in the magnetotail) it approachs a cylinder shape with a radius 20-25 R_E
[another source said 25-30 R_E].
The tail region stretches well past 200 R_E, and the way it ends is not known. The neutral gas envelope of Earth (geocorona) continues to about 4-5 R_E, with diminishing density and minimal interaction with the plasmas of the magnetosphere. So does the upwards extension of the ionosphere, known as the plasmasphere.
The moon's average distance from the Earth is about 60 R_E (30 diameters)"

Therefore the diameter of the widest part of the magnetosphere (cylinder radius) is 30 R_E × 2 = 30 diameters ie., one could think this was the earth's vortex size as given in the 1882 Oahspe Edition, which by coincidence is about half way to the moon.

There are various figures given for the average distance between the moon and the earth. These range from 238,857 miles to 238,897 miles. [This would be center-to-center.]
I will use 238,896 miles, which is appoximately:-
238,896 miles ÷ 7,926 miles (earth's diameter) = 30.14 or 30 diameters

The Moon moves around the Earth in an elliptical orbit (eccentricity =0.0554), so the distance between the Earth and Moon varies from 222,756 miles at perigee, or closest approach to 254,186 miles at apogee, its farthest point [another source gives 225,740 and 251,970).

http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2005/CollinTam.shtml

So the 1882 Edition figure is only half way to the moon. If the 1882 Edition had have said " the SEMI DIAMETER (or radius) of the earth's vortex is thirty times the earth's diameter", then the earth's vortex would overlap the moon's vortex, and reach the moon. This suggests that this is how the 1891 Edition revisionists saw the vortex to be.

In addition, Oahspe repeatedly says, when referring to Chinvat (the bridge on the boundary of the earth's vortex), that it is just beyond the orbit of the moon.

Also the 1891 Edition says:
"The outer rim, forty-two thousand miles broad, of the MOON'S vortex, hath a revolution axially with the earth once a month. The swiftest part of the earth's vortex is therefore about fifteen thousand miles this side of the orbit of the moon."

Book of Cosmogony and Prophecy Ch I:5

The 1882 Edition says:
"The outer rim, forty-two thousand miles broad, of the EARTH'S vortex, hath a revolution axially with the earth once a month. "
[The "earth's vortex" is replaced by the "moon's vortex".]

If the earth's vortex is forty-two thousand miles broad then it can't be 30 (237,780 miles broad) but 5.3 times its diameter according to the 1882 Edition Oahspe.
[This is 10.6 R_E (Earth Radii) or the known size of the Earth's magnetosphere on the Sun's side. This is a little wider that the outer Van Allen Belt (3 - 9 R_E). Away from the sun the tail of the magnetospere is about 10 times longer (395,300 miles) which is greater than the moon's orbit. (238,849 miles). This leaves us with a puzzle. The magnetospere's tail does not follow the moon around, but always points away from the sun like a comet.]

Ruth has interpreted the 1882 Edition verse that says:
"The outer rim, forty-two thousand miles broad, of the earth's vortex, hath a revolution axially with the earth once a month. The swiftest part of the earth's vortex is therefore about fifteen thousand miles this side of the orbit of the moon."
to mean that the outer rim is actually an outer ring 42,000 miles deep, which would make better sense.
If the earth's vortex is 237,780 miles broad, plus a 42,000 miles deep outer ring, the vortex in total would be:
237,780 + 42,000 × 2 = 321,780 miles broad
Now although this is the outer rim of the earth's vortex there can be still a further outer region ring which contains the moon's vortex which is 21,600 miles broad.
237,780 + 42,000 × 2 + 21,600 × 2 = 364,980 miles broad
This figure is still short of the moon's known orbit figure of 477,792 miles broad.

If the swiftest part of the earth's vortex is about fifteen thousand miles this side of the orbit of the moon, the semi diameter is:
238,896 (average distance between the moon and the earth) - 15,000 = 223,896 miles
This makes the swiftest part of the earth's vortex:
223,896 × 2 = 447,792 miles broad.

If the swiftest part is not the outer rim (which is possibly slower due to the moon's inertia), the actual outer edge of the earth's vortex may be still beyond the moon a little, at the interface between Chinvat and the ethe.
If, as Ruth has suggested the "forty-two thousand miles broad" dimension applies to the ring or belt in which the moon travels (considering, in addition, that this size is almost twice [21,600 × 2 = 43,200 miles] the moon's vortex), then maybe this applies to a region outside of the swiftest part of the earth's vortex that lies further out, which might act as a transitional zone that assists in holding the moon's vortex before the relatively stationary region of Etheria.
In that case, the complete diameter up until the bridge of Chinvat would be:
447,792 + 42,000 × 2 = 531,792 miles broad.

If the moon's orbital diameter is 477,792 miles broad then the difference between the outer part of the earth's vortex and the moon's orbit is:
531,792 - 477,792 = 54,000
54,000 /2 = 27,000 miles, which seems further than "just beyond the orbit of the moon".

The following passages from Oahspe (the only ones that relate the position of chinvat with the moon) are all in context of an observer arriving from Etheria.
"And when it entered past Chinvat, and was well within the vortex of the earth in the belt of the moon's orbit, its light spread across the whole atmosphere of heaven"
"the adavaysit, reached Chinvat, the border of the earth's vortex, just beyond the orbit of the moon, and in size twice the moon's diameter."
"the float neared the borders of Chinvat, the earth's vortex, just beyond the orbit of the moon."
"here the boundary of her vortex, Chinvat; just beyond the sweep of the moon"
"when he reached Chinvat, the bridge on the boundary of the earth's vortex beyond the orbit of the moon"

Therefore, one would think that Chinvat was on the earth's side of the moon.

" Now the moon hath, as to the earth's face, no axial revolution. But it must be remembered the moon can not go around the earth without making an actual axial revolution. Seventy and one-half revolutions of the moon's vortex complete one travel around the earth's vortex. Consequently we arrive at the exact speed of the moon's vortexya."

Book of Cosmogony and Prophecy Ch 5:16

So we use this ratio to find the diameter where the interaction of the two vortices take place, ie., where "the moon's vortex completes one travel around the earth's vortex".

Lets assume that the swiftest part of the earth's vortex is responsible for rotating the moon.
So the diameter there is 447,792 miles broad.
If the swiftest part of the earth's vortex is about fifteen thousand miles this side of the orbit of the moon, the moons vortex at that point is 15,000 × 2 = 30,000 miles broad
447,792 ÷ 30,000 = 14.9 ie., not 70.5
The point where the interaction takes place must be further out.
Juggling the figures a bit, if the point is somewhere say between 447,792 and where the moon's diameter (D_m) = 0
ie., 447,792 + (30,000) = 477,792 miles broad (the moon's orbital diameter)

if we add 23,318 to 447,792 and subtract 23,318 from 30,000 miles
447,792 + 23,318 = 471,110 miles
30,000 - 23,318 = 6,682 miles
471,110 ÷ 6,682 = 70.5

Therefore the hypothesised value of the earth's vortex diameter is 471,110 miles broad.
If the moon's orbital diameter is 477,792 miles broad then the difference between the active part of the earth's vortex upon which the moon's vortex turns, and the moon's orbit is:
477,792 - 471,110 = 6,682
6,682 ÷ 2 = 3,341 miles

Now the swiftest part of the earth's vortex (about fifteen thousand miles this side of the orbit of the moon) is
15,000 - 3,341 = 11,659 miles closer to earth,

If the Moon's diameter = 2,160 miles, this active earth/moon interface is:
3,341 - 2,160 ÷ 2 = 3,341 - 1,080 = 2,261 miles above the moon's surface.
If the Moon's vortex diameter = 21,600 miles, this active earth/moon interface overlaps the moons vortex by:
21,600 ÷ 2 - 3,341 = 10,800 - 3,341 = 7,459 miles, which is small compared to the size of the earth's vortex.

So eight possibilities for the earth's vortex diameter are:

	Miles broad	RE (m)	Edition	Comment
A	478,738	60.46	1882	Moon's distance ~ 60 RE. Closed field line portion of magnetotail ~ 60 RE.
B	475,560	60.06	1891	Magnetosphere ~11 RE on Sun side. Substorm related cross-tail current disruption in magnetotail <15 RE
C	237,780	30.03	1882	Magnetic reconnection occurs ~ 21 RE. Magnetopause flanks ~15 RE abreast, magnetotail 20-30 RE
D	42,000	5.3	1882	Plasmapause 4-6 RE. Van Allen Belt (3 - 9 RE. Ring current 3-6 RE
E	321,780	40.64	1882	Conjecture based on 1882 Edition. Plasmoids originate 20-30 RE
F	447,792	56.55	Both	Both, but the 1882 Edition earth/vortex diameter ratio (30 times) contradicts it.
G	531,792	67.16	Both	Conjecture based on both Editions.
H	471,110	59.5	1882	Hypothesised value based on 1882 Edition. Magnetosphere became 59.4 RE when solar wind stopped

"As the moon's vortex rides around on the outer part of the earth's vortex, we discover the elliptic course thereof; so by the roads of a comet do we discover the spirality and curve of the master's vortex."

Book of Cosmogony and Prophecy Ch 6:3

A), B),F), G) and H) would imply that the earth's vortex is the cause of the moon being held in its place.
The moon's vortex would be at a distance to roll around the earth's vortex, like a grape rolling around an orange (but overlapping). The moon's vortex would rotate with the earth's outer vortex each month, but the moon would not (it's vortex being open).

Conclusion

"In the early age of the vortex of the earth, so swiftly flew the outer rim that border eddies ensued, from which nebula congregated, until the earth had a nebulous belt around it. This belt, in time, losing pace with the earth's vortex, condensed and made the moon."

Book of Cosmogony and Prophecy Ch 4:14

1) Chinvat seems to be on the earth's side of the moon.
2) Cosmognony Ch 6, 3 tells us the moon's vortex rides around on the outer part of the earth's vortex.
3) Cosmognony Ch 4:14 states that border eddies ensued from the outer rim of the earth's vortex forming a nebulous belt around it that lost pace with the earth's vortex in time, condensed and made the moon. Therefore the moon is beyond the outside of the earth's vortex.

The moon has a revolution with the earth once a month. It is a result of a nebulous belt around the outer rim that lost pace and condensed. The outer rim also has a revolution axially with the earth once a month [1882 Edition], so this must be the active earth/moon interface, hypothesised to be 3,341 miles closer to earth from the moon's orbital diameter, and 2,261 miles above the moon's surface.
The hypothesised outer rim overlaps the moons vortex by 7,459 miles.
If the swiftest part of the earth's vortex, which is hypothesised to be 11,659 miles closer to earth than what I believe to be the outer rim, then the swiftest part must have a revolution with the earth shorter than once a month.

One orbit of the moon (one month) 27.321 days × 23.934 hrs = 653.91 hrs
[One sidereal day is 23.934 hrs
One orbit of the moon takes 27.321 66155 days with respect to the stars [sidereal], having 13.369 passes per year.]

The moon's Orbital circumference (C) = π × D = 3.14159265 × 477,792 = 1,501,027 miles
One orbit of the moon (one month) is 27.321 days × 23.934 hrs = 653.91 hrs
Average velocity (V) at the moon's centre = distance ÷ time = 1,501,027 ÷ 653.91 = 2,295.5 mph
[The period in which the Moon completes an orbit around the Earth and returns to the same position in the sky--the sidereal month--is 27 days, 7 h, 43 min, and 11.6 sec. Because the Earth is moving in its orbit around the Sun in the same direction as the Moon, the time needed to return to the same phase - the synodic month - is longer: 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 2.8 seconds.]

Rotational velocity curve for a vortex (galaxy)

Another way of making the same revision would have been to change the wording thus:
The moon's vortex is ten times the moon's diameter, and the earth's ROTATION thirty times ITS PERIPHERAL VORTEX ROTATION.
From:
The moon's vortex is ten times the moon's diameter, and the earth's VORTEX thirty times THE EARTH'S DIAMETER.

Otherwise, we are left with the problem of what holds the moon in its orbit if the edge of both the moon and earth's vortices lie way out of reach.

________________________________________________________________________________

The diagram on the right shows a magnetic field directed into the page (the x inside small circles are symbols of an arrow from the rear). A circular plate moves down through the field, and circular eddy currents are induced in the plate whose direction is given by Lenz's law.
An eddy current is caused by a moving magnetic field intersecting a conductor or vice-versa. The relative motion causes a circulating flow of electrons, or current, within the conductor. These circulating eddies of current create electromagnets with magnetic fields that oppose the change in the external magnetic field (Lenz's law). The stronger the magnetic field, or greater the electrical conductivity of the conductor, the greater the currents developed and the greater the opposing force. This is used in electrical generators and dynamic microphones.
Eddy currents create losses in iron core transformers and alternating current motors. An analogous eddy current is seen in water when dragging an oar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddy_current

Many planets have a magnetosphere.
On the sun's side of Earth, the magnetosphere extends out to a distance of approximately 10 Earth-radii [40,000 miles, or 80,000 miles broad] while the magnetotail [see further on] extends several hundred radii in the opposite direction.

Since the measured distance between the moon and the earth is 238,849 miles, that would make the moon six times outside of the magnetosphere's influence.
Though the measurable strength of the earth's dipole field is increased by two times the nominal dipole value [see further on] at the magnetopause (the limit of the magnetosphere) the outer vortex may be of a magnetism or plasma more subtle and undetectable further out [see comment about an open vortex below].

Oahspe sees a planet as a comet. The shape of magnetospheres certainly are like comets

From Oahspe:
"In the case of a vortex in etherea (that is after the manner of a whirlwind on the earth), the corporeal solutions are propelled toward the centre thereof in greater density. When it is sufficiently dense to manifest light, and shadow, it is called a comet, or nebula; when still more dense it is a planet."

"When as a comet (or nebula) the m'vortex hath not attained to an orbit of its own, it is carried in the currents of the master vortex, which currents are elliptic, parabolic and hyperbolic. Hence the so-called eccentric travel of comets.
At this age of the comet, it showeth nearly the configuration of its own vortex; its tail being the m'vortexya. If it appear to the east of the sun its tail turneth eastward; if west of the sun, it turneth westward.
Two directions of power are thus manifested; and also two powers: First, that the vortex of the sun hath power from the east to west, and from the west to east, to which the comet is subjected: Second, that the comet hath a vortex of its own, which is sufficient under the circumstances to maintain the general form of the comet."

"Interior nebula is generally described as comets; whilst exterior nebula is usually called nebula. Nevertheless, all such solutions of corpor are of like nature, being as the beginning or as the incomplete condensation of a planet. They do not all, nor half of them, ripen into planets."

"But nowhere in etherea is there a solution of corpor sufficient to put itself in motion; nor sufficient to condense itself; nor to provide the road of its travel. But its road of travel showeth the direction of the lines of the sun's vortex. As a cyclone, or whirlwind, on the earth, traveleth with the general current of the wind, so travel the sub-vortices in etherea within the axial lines of vortices in chief."

"Of external nebulae, of sufficient size to be self-sustaining, and to ultimately become planets, there are at present visible from the earth more than eight thousand. These are in process of globe-making, even as the earth was made. Of nebulae within the sun's vortex, where they are usually called comets, there are upward of eight or ten new ones every year."

The Electric Universe theory says comets are indistinguishable from asteroids, save that they are moving thru the electric field of the sun in a way that asteroids are not.

To confuse things more, the magnetosphere is shown rotating about the axis along its tail (seen in the link below), which would mean the moon would orbit over the poles if the magnetosphere is the cause of the moon's orbit. But the complex movement of the Magnetosphere is not clear to me yet.
That's not to say there is no vortex, for the same differential rotations are seen about the sun and planets, causing a pattern of cyclones, trade winds, ocean currents, Jupiter's red spot and layers, sunspot rotation and the spiral of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF).
But what maintains this motion?

There is a gap in knowledge of the cause of earths rotation, magnetic field and electic belts.
One source says:
The intensity of the Earth's magnetic field is about 0.3 Oersted at the equator and 0.6 Oersted at the poles. A typical bar magnetic is about 10,000 Oersted.
The electric currents within the Earth require extremely sensitive instrumentation, how can such small hard to detect currents generate such an awesome magnetic field?
What is causing these Earth's currents? Where is the power coming from?
In all cases, these currents would require power or energy to sustain themselves. Some scientists believe the power is coming from the kinetic energy stored in the rotational mass of the Earth. If this is true, then how much kinetic energy is required to support a magnetic moment as large as the Earth?
Based on a study by G. D. Gibson and P. H. Roberts at University of Newcastle upon Tyne; assuming a radius of the size of the Earth, the magnetic permeability of the Earth's materials and electrical conductivity of those materials the decay time of a conducting sphere is about fifteen thousand years (15,000).
We now can conclude that the Earth's currents, like the magnetic field, require a force to sustain them. This force must be much grander in scale than the Earth's rotational momentum.
The Dynamo Theory is based on motion. The rotation of the body generates the necessary forces to create the generation of a magnetic field.
Now, if this were true, then Mercury which rotates very slowly compared to the Earth and Mars, should have little or no magnetic field. Mars which rotates at close to the speed of Earth should have close to the same magnetic field as Earth. This is not the case. Mars has a very small magnetic field and Mercury has a strong magnetic field.
Within the plasma sheet are currents of electrical particles flowing perpendicular to the plane of the Sun and Earth. There are two currents, one in the northern sector and one in the southern sector of the plasma sheet. Between the two currents is a neutral sheet where current flows together. The potentials of 1 to 8 thousand volts are commonly present.
Areas as the Van Allen radiation belts potentials can be as high as 100 million volts. Because these are high currents and are of astronomical size in a high resistance environment P = I² × R, the energy required to support the currents is astronomical. The energy is of the proportions such that if applied to stop the Earth, it could bring the Earth to a stand still within one revolution about the Sun.

This link has many diagrams of the magnetosphere.

Many are movies, and can seen by downloading and running Quicktime (there should be no cost).

Try this link for Quicktime

Magnetospheres

The Earth's Magnetosphere (above)

Mercury's Magnetosphere (right)

Neptune's Magnetosphere (above)

Saturn's Magnetosphere (left)

What a magnetosphere looks like is partly given to us by computer simulations. If the model is wrong, the shape is wrong. Even observational data relies on correct interpretation and reference frame. For example, the Earth's magnetism does not extend as far into space as would be predicted from the Earth's internal field alone. Plasma acts as a kind of electromagnet. The magnetosphere's shape is the sum of magnetic fields from currents that circulate in the magnetospheric plasma, which are not caused by the geomagnetic field, but something external.

When the solar wind reaches a magnetized planet such as Earth, this collisionless plasma interacts with the magnetic field, initiating a process that enables the solar wind to influence the upper reaches of the atmosphere. The magnetosphere behaves like a compressible fluid. It is made to flap and compress by the solar wind. The flapping and compression form electromagnetic storms.
The interaction between the solar wind, the magnetosphere, and the atmosphere produces a number of plasma and magnetic field structures, including the magnetopause, magnetosheath, boundary layers, cusp region, plasmasphere, ring current, plasma sheet, magnetotail, and magnetotail lobes. Each of these regions maps along magnetic field lines into the atmosphere-ionosphere system and is the origin of energetic inputs that perturb the state of the plasmas and neutral gases.
The transport of mass, momentum, and energy into and through magnetospheres and ionospheres is a fundamental yet poorly understood process.
A global perspective requires that the local small-scale plasma processes be placed in the context of the large-scale system, and ideally, provides a connection between small-scale processes occurring simultaneously in widely separated parts of the magnetosphere-ionosphere system.

Diagram of the Earth's magnetosphere, showing the flow of the solar wind through the bow shock (where its flow goes from supersonic to subsonic) and around the current sheet known as the magnetopause, which forms the boundary between the magnetosphere and the solar wind. Through interconnection of magnetic fields and through entry of particles across the magnetopause, solar wind mass, momentum, and energy are transferred to the magnetosphere. Some of this energy ultimately finds its way into the Earth's atmosphere.

In situ measurements of the vast astrophysical plasma systems like the Crab nebula, clearly laced with magnetic fields, hot gasses, and highly energized charged particles, are not possible. But many measurements have been made of the constituent gases, fields, and plasmas within the Earth's and other planets' magnetospheres.
Many links in the transfer of energy, mass, and momentum from the solar wind and have been identified. Space physicists now know that transport of solar wind energy and momentum takes place across narrow boundary layers that separate regions with very different plasma conditions. The importance of these boundary layers in transport processes and particle acceleration in several regions of the magnetosphere, such as the plasma sheet, has also been identified. The polar atmosphere functions as the sink for a significant fraction of the energy transferred from the solar wind to the magnetosphere.

The Earth's Magnetosphere

The outer boundary of the magnetosphere is called the magnetopause. It is a thin plasma layer that separates the solar wind magnetic field from the Earth's magnetic field. At this location the plasma pressure of the solar wind is in equilibrium with the magnetic pressure inside the magnetosphere. Due to a continuous variation of the solar wind pressure, this boundary moves continuously. It is characterized by a number of transient phenomena and by two major boundary layers, one at low latitudes and one near the poles. Both of the boundary layers are important sources of plasma for the magnetosphere, but the mechanisms forming the boundary layers themselves are still not fully understood.
The magnetopause is considered an impenetrable boundary, but some plasma from the solar wind can enter the magnetosphere. Various processes proposed to account for this penetration of plasma include pressure pulses (when the solar wind pressure suddenly increases, leading to an indentation of the magnetopause), and reconnection between the interplanetary magnetic field and the Earth's magnetic field.

Bow shock around a young star located in the intense star-forming region of the Great Nebula in Orion. A star emits a stellar wind outward from the star which collides with slow-moving gas evaporating away from the center of the Orion Nebula. The surface where the two winds collide is the crescent-shaped bow shock.

Magnetosheath plasma enters low-altitude cusp which maps onto the dayside of the auroral oval.

Inner magnetosphere with high and low-altitude cusps marked.

The magnetosphere contains various large-scale regions, which vary in terms of the composition, energies, and densities of the plasmas that occupy them. The sources of the plasmas that populate these regions are the solar wind and the Earth's ionosphere; the relative contributions of these two sources to the magnetospheric plasma vary according to the level of geomagnetic activity.
The magnetosphere is a dynamic structure that responds dramatically to the dynamic pressure of the solar wind and the orientation of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). Its ultimate source of energy is the interaction with the solar wind. Some of the energy extracted from this interaction goes directly into driving various magnetospheric processes, while some is stored in the magnetotail, to be released later in substorms. The principal means by which energy is transferred from the solar wind to the magnetosphere is a process known as "reconnection," which occurs when the IMF is oriented antiparallel to the orientation of the Earth's field lines. This orientation allows interplanetary and geomagnetic field lines to merge, resulting in the transfer of energy, mass, and momentum from the solar wind to the magnetosphere. The viscous interaction of the solar wind and the magnetosphere also plays a role in solar wind/magnetosphere coupling, but is of secondary importance compared with reconnection.

Reconnection is thought to be the main link in the solar wind - magnetosphere coupling process, occurring at the dayside magnetopause between southward directed IMF and the northward directed geomagnetic field. It is the main process that transports mass, momentum, and energy from the solar wind into the magnetosphere, and it drives the large scale magnetospheric convection. There are several reasons to believe the existence of such a process:

there is a clear correlation between the IMF B_Z direction and geomagnetic activity some measurements indicate the presence of unexplained processes at the magnetopause some theories can explain the formation of such processes (e.g., the tearing mode instability) There are two basic types of reconnection models:

quasi-static reconnection (QSR) flux transfer event (FTE) In addition to the dayside reconnection, similar process should be occurring in the far tail. Finally, some substorm models are also based on reconnection. This is quite natural, since the magnetic field field lines above and below the cross-tail current sheet are oppositely directed, and the plasma sheet is typically thinning during the substorm growth phase.

There is no question about the source of ionospheric plasma, since it is created from the ambient neutral atmosphere by ionization. However, the source of magnetospheric plasma is a much more complicated question: although it seems obvious that both solar wind and ionosphere feed it, the relative importance of these two sources is unclear. Furthermore, it seems also that plasmasphere can provide part of the plasma in plasma sheet; although it originates, in the end, from ionosphere, the transport mechanism is quite different than in direct ionospheric outflow.

When studying the plasma source, separating different ions is important. Protons (H+) are the primary ions in solar wind and one of the major components in ionospheric outflows, and thus not good indicators of their source. Also He+ has a mixed origin (Kremser et al., 1993). However, O+ (and O++) come from ionosphere, and He++ and highly charged oxygen from solar wind (Kremser et al., 1987). The original idea that magnetospheric plasma would invariably be of solar wind origin was first seriously questioned when precipitating O+ was discovered in early 1970s. First observations of direct ion outflows were made few years later, and ionospheric ions were observed in the magnetosphere by GEOS-1 satellite (Geiss et al., 1978). Today we know that O+ can be found from ring current, inner plasma sheet, and far magnetotail. Especially high geomagnetic activity enhances ionospheric plasma presence in the magnetosphere. On the other hand, quiet time plasma sheet plasma seems to be at least partly controlled by solar wind (see, e.g., Winglee, 1998).

The effect of the geomagnetic activity is obvious in long time scales, and magnetospheric O+ content displays clear solar cycle variation. In addition, it has been suggested that ionosphere response could be fast enough to control the evolution of dynamic geospace processes like substorms via transient and localized dominance (Daglis and Axford, 1996). See also magnetosphere - ionosphere coupling.

Although the (partial) ionospheric source is well established, there are no reliable quantitative estimates of the outflow and its spatial extent, and the speed of the transport is not known. Finally one should be able to show what mechanisms are doing the energization from cold ionospheric source plasma to relatively high energy plasma sheet plasma.

Polar Caps, polar wind and Polar rain

Polar caps form one of the ionospheric sources of magnetospheric plasma. This is due to the so-called polar wind (1968). The proposed mechanism for this "classical" polar wind, ambipolar electric field, separates it from other ion outflow events. The classical polar wind characteristics are that it is cold, field-aligned (out of the ionosphere), and the velocities are inversely correlated with ion mass, favouring lighter ions (H+ and He+). Later observations revealed day-night asymmetries in the ion and electron features, and O+ outflows (1993). Furthermore, the outflow velocities increase with altitude and are supersonic at high altitudes.

Polar rain is spatially homogenous few hundred eV electron precipitation into the polar cap. The open polar cap field lines are connected to the lobes (left) of the magnetic tail, and polar rain electrons have been observed also there. The origin of the polar rain electrons is the solar corona, i.e., they belong to the suprathermal (halo) portion of solar wind electrons (1985). In polar rain, there is typically little or no ion accompaniment.
Polar rain can be used as a diagnostic tool for open field lines (1998). However, although field lines with polar rain are certainly open, field lines without it are not necessarily closed. Polar rain shows a strong hemispherical asymmetry, with the northern hemisphere favoured for an away IMF sector structure (1976) and the southern hemisphere favoured for a toward IMF sector structure. Also a dawn-dusk gradient controlled by IMF By has been observed (1977). As the dayside merging affects the size of the polar cap, also the IMF B_Z component affects the polar rain (1984).

The magnetotail

Comparison of Typical Plasma Densities

Solar wind near Earth	6 ions/cubic centimeter
Dayside outer magnetosphere	1 ion/cubic cm
Plasma sheet separating tail lobes	0.3 -- 0.5 ions/cubic cm
Tail lobes	0.01 ion/cubic cm

Most of the volume of the tail is taken up by two large bundles of nearly parallel magnetic field. The bundle north of the equator points earthwards and leads to a roughly circular region including the northern magnetic pole, while the southern bundle points away from Earth and is linked to the southern polar region. These "tail lobes" extend far from Earth. Satellites found them well-defined even at 200-220 R_E (870,980 mls) from Earth.
At those distances the lobes are already penetrated by some solar wind plasma, but near Earth they are almost empty.
This low density suggests that field lines of the lobes ultimately connect to the solar wind, somewhere far downstream from Earth. Ions and electrons then can easily flow away along lobe field lines, until they are swept up by the solar wind; but few solar wind ions can head upstream, so little plasma remains in the lobes. The plasma sheet separates the two tail lobes. It is a layer of weaker magnetic field and denser plasma, centered on the equator and typically 2-6 R_E thick. Unlike field lines of the tail lobes, those of the plasma sheet cross the equator (ie., are closed field lines), though they are stretched out. A weak magnetic field means that the plasma is less restrained here than nearer to Earth, and on occasion it flaps around.
The closed field line portion of the magnetotail is usually less than about 60 R_E (237,540 ml).
The swiftest part of the earth's vortex (the edge of the vortex) is 223,896 mls.
The plasmasphere and plasma sheet are closed-line regions while tail lobes and mantle are open-line regions. The boundary plasma sheet (BPS) and low latitude boundary layer (LLBL) are transition regions because they contain the field lines of both types. The mantle contains the most recently reconnected field lines that are dragged tailward by the solar wind. The region of dayside reconnection (and its ionospheric projection) is called the cusp. It projects to a short strip at ±(76°–77°) of magnetic latitude.
The equatorial projection of the plasmapause (i.e. its outer boundary) is typically found near 3-6 R_E. The inner plasmasphere is a region inside of the plasmasphere that corotates with the earth. Electron density in the plasmasphere is of the order of ~ 100 cm^-3 and falls off by 2-3 orders of magnitude across the plasmapause. The plasmasphere contains the major part of the trapped and bouncing charged particles forming the Van Allen radiation belts.
The plasma sheet extends tailward for several tens of R_E in the form of a slab. The plasma sheet contains the so-called cross-tail current sheet. Electron density in the plasma sheet is ~ 0.1 - 1 cm^-3. It contains hot particles with the energies up to tens of keV. The ionospheric projection of the plasma sheet is observed at ~ 65° – 75° of geomagnetic latitude.
The boundary plasma sheet, BPS, is the region between the plasma sheet and mantle. In the BPS the tail reconnection occurs, so the open field lines of the outer BPS become closed and move toward the plasma sheet. Sharp ion streams are characteristic of the BPS, average energy being a few keV. The BPS ionospheric projection is observed at ~ 67° – 77° of geomagnetic latitude.
The northern tail lobe and the southern tail lobe are the regions adjacent to the plasma sheet, containing open field lines in the earthward and tailward directions, respectively. Plasma densities are low (< 0.01 cm^-3) in this region, and the ion and electron energy spectra are very soft, typically ~ 20 eV.
The mantle is a boundary layer several thousand kilometers thick just inside the magnetopause. It contains particles of low densities, less than 0.1 cm^-3, with energies up to hundreds of eV. Its ionospheric projection on the dayside is between 77° and 81°. The mantle is a region of newly-reconnected open flux lines. Its lines of force are dragged tailward by the solar wind flux lines.

The low-latitude boundary layer, LLBL, is a relatively thin (0.5 – 1 R_E) boundary layer located earthward of the magnetopause. Its ionospheric projection is a thin semicircle called the cleft, observed at about 77° between ~ 10 and 14 MLT (Magnetic Local Time). Its characteristic electron densities are ~ 0.5 - 10 cm–3 with the energies from less than 100 eV to 1000-2000 eV. The LLBL is a current generator region because it maintains the process of charge separation inside of itself.

Because of the weak field in the plasma sheet, the ions and electrons of the plasma sheet are constantly stirred up, and some of them leak out of the ends of their magnetic field lines. As such electrons approach the Earth, most bounce back due to the action of converging field lines, but some reach the atmosphere and are lost, producing the diffuse aurora (right). The eye cannot see this spread-out glow, but satellite cameras do, showing a "ring of fire" surrounding the Earth's polar caps at most time.
The diffuse aurora expands and contracts as the tail lobes swell and shrink due to variations in the solar wind and its magnetic field.

Plasma Convection

Two models of the solar wind/terrestrial magnetic field interaction. Left: viscous processes, Right: magnetic reconnection

The other theory proposed by James Dungey [1961] suggested an answer to how fresh plasma is supplied. In an ideal plasma, ions and electrons that share a field line move together and continue sharing it at all times ("like beads on a wire"). Dungey pointed out an exception to this rule, that when the plasma flowed through a neutral point or "neutral line" at which the magnetic force was zero, the plasmas on both sides of that point could become separated and could "reconnect" to different field lines. Dungey suggested that such a neutral point existed near the front of the magnetopause (marked N on the diagram). He proposed that interplanetary field lines (with the plasma riding on them) linked up there with terrestrial ones, forming compound lines (“open flux tubes”), like the one to the right of "3". That line contains a sharp bend. Most of the plasma on the section beyond the bend is interplanetary, most of it on the section closer to Earth is terrestrial. However, both plasmas move together, continue to share the same line, and slowly intermix.
The open tubes are then carried downstream by the magnetosheath flow and stretched into a long cylindrical tail (line "3" moves to the line "4" position, then to the position "5", and perhaps half an hour after that the open tubes close again by reconnection in the centre of the tail, somewhere downstream of Earth, at a neutral point or line near the number "6", presumably in the boundary plasma sheet (BPS) region.The interplanetary parts (the open field lines) are then rejoined back to regular IMF lines in the solar wind and flow away, and the terrestrial halves are reunited and become closed field lines, which return through the plasma sheet. These field lines shrink as they move sunward along the magnetosphere flanks and eventually get into the dayside part of the magnetosphere, where they become subject to the dayside reconnection again.
Neglecting spill-over at boundary points like the sharp bend in line "3" (and glossing over some important, and as yet not completely understood, plasma physics), one realizes that this process will transport near-noon plasma to the distant tail, then back earthward, creating a circulation of plasma in the magnetosphere and bringing fresh ions and electrons into the plasma sheet, from the vicinity of "6". The process is often named "convection", and the overall flow cycle is ~ 12 hours, of which field lines remain open mapping into the tail lobe for ~ 4 hours and then take ~ 8 hours to convect back from the tail to the dayside.

Under the solar wind conditions favourable for the reconnection, the ionospheric image of the magnetospheric flow consists of two convection cells with antisunward flow of open field lines over the polar cap and a return sunward flow of closed field lines at lower latitudes.
This convective flow is associated with a large-scale electric field in the plasma directed from dawn to dusk. The voltage between the foci of the cells is of order 100 kV and is associated with the ionospheric flows of several hundreds m/s. Generally, the drift velocity v, electric field E, and magnetic field B are associated in the equation    v = (1/B²)  E × B
This equation describes the Hall drift of charged particles in the direction perpendicular to those of the electric and magnetic fields. This process occurs under the condition of stable negative IMF B_Z only.

[Note that THEMIS recently observed that 20 times more solar particles get into the magnetosphere when the IMF points northward. Before that it was found that energy from the sun gets into the magnetosphere when the IMF points southward.]

The charged particle populations, travelling with the reconnecting IMF field lines, penetrate into the magnetosphere, carrying the momentum and energy from the solar wind. Hence the term “open magnetosphere” describing its state under negative IMF B_Z.
During the periods of positive IMF B_Z, the reconnection process at the subsolar region of the magnetopause ceases, and so does the input of particles, energy, and momentum. Therefore this state is referred to as closed magnetosphere. The IMF field lines do not merge with those of magnetopause, but slide down the magnetotail with solar wind. The magnetosphere-ionospheric system also undergoes a number of changes, among which is vanishing of the Region 1 Birkeland field-aligned currents.

Flows of plasma consistent with Dungey's prediction, have been observed by satellites. The electric field associated with them has also been measured, and most scientists now support the notion of circulating plasma. The earthward flow in the tail has been harder to confirm and is irregular, coming in fits and bursts, especially during magnetic substorms.
The reconnection process received support in 1966, after spacecraft began monitoring the IMF. It then became evident that "storminess" of the magnetosphere ("magnetopheric activity") occurred primarily when the north-south component B_Z of the IMF pointed south. Also, while magnetic storms required the arrival of a blast of solar plasma, overtaking the solar wind and preceded by a shock front, big storms and severely compressed boundaries usually required a southward B_Z as well.
qq "Geotail" observations suggested that the neutral point near "6" occurs about 70-100 R_E (277,130-395,900 mls; moon's distance is 254,186 miles at apogee. This would have been about near or beyond the bridge of Chinvat, but THEMIS gives a differnt value).

Near-Earth Neutral line (NENL), Null-Null Line, X-line and Substorm Location

Sequence of the auroral pattern during an auroral substorm viewed above the magnetic pole.
The concentric circles denote latitudes with 10º spacing.

[The most spectacular form of discrete auroras is the substorm related auroral bulge. The bulge is formed close to the midnight sector, and it is characterized by rapid poleward motion. The poleward expansion of the bulge is not continuous, but stepwise. There are 3 types of discrete aurora within a bulge.
1) a surge [westward termination of the bulge] 2) north-south aligned auroras 3) eastward propagating auroras
The N-S auroral region is thought to be a channel through which plasma sheet plasma is injected into the ring current.]

The magnetic reconnection process. The magnetic field lines are drawn in blue before reconnection and in orange after. The red arrows denote the motion of the charged particles (v) associated with the magnetic field lines. The accompanying electric field component perpendicular to the reconnection plane Ey (pointing out of the image) is also shown.

Reconnecting magnetic field lines

Turbulence in the current disruption region where the electric current is broken up into filaments with various intensities and with some reversing in direction as well. The associated electric field is also highly variable in strength and direction. Plasma is accelerated to high speeds by forces resulting from the current disruption process.

Substorm model comparison. Time sequence is indicated by steps 1-4. In the near-Earth initiation model (top), the current intensity (J) is indicated by the size of the circle. A plasma process causes current disruption (CD) on the magnetic field line connected to an auroral arc, which in turn generates a disturbance wave propagating tailward. A new current system, called the substorm current wedge, is developed by CD. Magnetic reconnection may subsequently develop in one of the CD sites. In the mid-tail initiation model (bottom), magnetic reconnection occurs in the mid-tail, causing an Earthward plasma jet, which in turn slows down near the inner magnetotail to create a substorm current wedge (NENL = near-Earth neutral line).

In the mid-tail initiation model, the first sign of substorm onset occurs deep in the magnetotail where magnetic reconnection takes place at a site called the near-Earth neutral line (NENL). It produces a high-speed plasma flow directed to the Earth. This flow slows down as it encounters the strong magnetic field from Earth, and flow braking creates a dawnward current, generating a substorm current wedge as a result. Clear distinctions between these two models are the location where the disturbance first appears and the propagation direction of the disturbance, even though the subsequent extent of the disturbance in each model can encompass both the transition region and the magnetotail.

The NASA THEMIS (Time History of Events and Macroscopic Interactions during Substorms) mission, consisting of five identical satellites, is attempting to resolve this substorm onset mystery. Three inner satellites at ~10–12 R_E downstream distances will monitor current disruption onsets, while two outer satellites, one at 20 RE and the other at 30 R_E downstream will monitor magnetic reconnection onsets.

While the magnetospheric substorm related cross-tail current disruption and the formation of the SCW take place in the near-Earth tail, <15 Re, the observed high speed plasma flows indicate that important substorm processes occur at about 20-30 Re.
The near-Earth Neutral line (NENL 1996) model assumes that reconnection takes place between the oppositely directed field lines above and below the current sheet at a distance of about 20 - 30 Re (this is considered near-Earth as opposed to the distant tail reconnection). 11 Aug 2008
A 3-D "magnetic snapshot" of the heart of a magnetic reconnection region has been obtained in-situ by Cluster at one-third of the distance to the Moon from Earth (21 R_E).

the event triggering substorms in the magnetosphere surrounding the Earth originate deep in the planet's shadow, about a third of the way to the moon. According to the "current disruption" model, the solar wind causes large currents to build up in space. Sudden disruption of these currents by an explosive instability can cause them to short circuit through auroral currents, initiating a substorm. Substorms can dump energetic particles into the Van Allen radiation belts THEMIS unlocked the mystery of substorm initiation on Feb. 2008, when they recorded plasma density and flow, and electric and magnetic field data. The observations confirmed that magnetic reconnection in the Earth's magnetotail triggers the onset of activity in the auroras, putting a shimmer in the colourful curtain of the northern and southern lights. About 1.5 minutes after reconnection, the aurora brightened rapidly and expanded toward the poles, and then, 1.5 minutes after that, electrical currents flowing in near-Earth space were disrupted. Thus, current disruption is the last event of a substorm, not the first.

Magnetospheric current systems

3-D cutaway view of the magnetosphere showing currents, fields, and plasma regions.

Magnetospheric current systems. The small circle stands for the earth ionosphere.

The magnetopause current
The magnetopause current flows along the surface of the magnetopause so that its magnetic effect cancels the geomagnetic field outside the magnetosphere. In the inner magnetosphere, where the magnetic field is almost dipolar, the contribution from the magnetopause current to the total field is small compared to that from the earth’s internal dipole.
A flow of any high conducting fluid leads to emerging a magnetopause in front of a magnet fixed and not moving with it.
The schematic shows a rectangular fragment of cross-section of the magnetosphere in the XZ plane in the GSM coordinate system. The magnetopause is shown as a thick grey vertical line. The subsolar area on the left contains no terrestrial magnetic field, whereas the magnetosphere on the right is filled with the earth’s magnetic field lines. According to Maxwell’s equation:
           ∇× B = µ₀ j,     where µ₀ is the magnetic permeability constant of free space.
Curl B can be estimated by replacing it with the circulation integral of B along a thin contour confining a segment of the magnetopause cross-section. The contour is shown as a dashed rectangular path (right). Only the magnetic field inside the magnetosphere (on the right) contributes to the B circulation integral, because the horizontal segments of the contour and its subsolar segment have zero B projections.
Hence the B circulation and the curl B reach maximum at the surface of the magnetopause, and by the above equation the surface must contain the current j with the streamlines perpendicular to the B lines of force, as shown by the circles with dots. The magnetopause current has counterclockwise sense of rotation if viewed from above the North Pole. It makes up two “funnels” near the dipole poles. These funnels indicate the positions of the earth’s geomagnetic field cusps.

Formation of the magnetopause current j. The surface of magnetopause separates the interplanetary medium (on the left) and the earth’s magnetic field B (on the right), therefore the magnetopause must contain the sheet current j.

Tail current in antisunward direction as seen from the earth

The Ionosphere

Vertical profiles of electron number density in the mid-latitude ionosphere.

Birkeland field-aligned currents

Distribution of Birkeland field-aligned currents during (a) weak and (b) active disturbances.

Field-aligned currents (FACs) and Birkeland currents

A Birkeland current is a specific magnetic field aligned current in the Earth’s magnetosphere which flows from the magnetotail towards the Earth on the dawn side and in the other direction on the dusk side of the magnetosphere. The term Birkeland currents has been expanded to include magnetic field aligned currents in general space plasmas. These currents are driven by changes in the magnetotail (e.g. during substorms) and when they reach the upper atmosphere, they create the aurora Borealis and Australis. The currents are closed through the auroral electrojet, which flows perpendicular to the local magnetic field in the ionosphere.
Auroral Birkeland currents can carry about 1 million amperes. They can heat up the upper atmosphere which results in increased drag on low-altitude satellites.

Diocotron instability vortices photographed on a fluorescent screen

Auroral curls are associated with shear velocities and KH instability.

The complex self-constricting magnetic field lines and current paths in a Birkeland current that may develop in a plasma

Plasma Waves

IONOSPHERIC CONDUCTANCE EFFECTS IN OCCURRENCE OF SUBSTORMS, GLOBAL STORMS, AND RADAR AURORAS For the magnetospheric sources maintaining FACs of certain intensity the electric field intensity in the ionosphere depends on conductance. The ionospheric conductance depends on the sun’s radiation that experiences seasonal and solar cycle variations, so many phenomena occurring in the high-latitude ionosphere could be controlled by seasonal and solar cycles. I created the first wark to gain in rotation faster than the earth, one year for every eleven. So that when the wark has made twelve of its own years, the earth shall have completed eleven years. qq The geomagnetic activity is highly variable in time. Two mechanisms were suggested to explain this variation: the axial mechanism and the equinoctial mechanism. The axial mechanism is based on the 7.2° tilt of the solar rotation axis with respect to the ecliptic plane. Due to this tilt the earth reaches the highest northern and southern heliographic latitude on September 6 and March 5, respectively. Near these dates the earth is more in line with the sunspot zones, or with midlatitude coronal holes. The axial mechanism can explain the seasonal modulation of geomagnetic activity, but not its diurnal modulation. The equinoctial mechanism was suggested to explains both seasonal and diurnal modulations of the geomagnetic activity. The equinoctial hypothesis states that the variation of angle ? between the sun-earth line (which is close to the solar wind flow direction) and the earth’s dipole axis is the controlling parameter in the variation of geomagnetic activity. It assumes that the coupling efficiency of the solar wind with the magnetosphere is maximim at the equinoxes, when the ? becomes close to 90º, and it is reduced beyond the equinoxes, when the ? sharpens. The angle ? varies seasonally because of the 23.45° tilt of the earth’s rotation axis with respect to the ecliptic plane, and it varies diurnally due to ~11.5° inclination of the dipole axis to the earth’s rotation axis. Its full range is from ~55° to ~125°; the range of the acute angle between the earth-sun line and the dipole axis, ?, is ~55° to 90°. At the equinoxes, ? varies between ~78.5° and 90°, but at the solstices it varies between ~55° and ~78.5°; therefore, at the equinoxes the resulting diurnal variation is relatively weak compared to that at the solstices. Despite the observational support, the way the equinoctial mechanism works has remained unknown [2000]. Boller and Stolov [1970] suggested a theoretical explanation of the equinoctial effect in terms of the Kelvin-Helmholtz’s instability. They proposed that annual and diurnal variations of the angle of attack of the earth’s dipole to the solar wind cause modulations of the conditions favorable for the development of Kelvin-Helmholtz’s instability at the flanks of the magnetosphere. This proposal could explain both diurnal and semiannual variations of geomagnetic activity. However, Russell and McPherron [1973] mentioned that in situ measurements of the solar wind-magnetosphere interaction indicated that this instability is not responsible for geomagnetic activity. 76 The results of in situ measurements of the solar wind-magnetosphere interaction lead to another approach in explanation of diurnal and seasonal variations of geomagnetic activity. Taking into account that geomagnetic activity at the ground level is caused by substorms and that magnitude of the IMF southward component has been shown to control substorm activity, Russell and McPherron [1973] suggested a model of UT/seasonal variations of geomagnetic activity (further referred as the RM model) based on the assumption that the substorm activity reaches its maximum when the earth magnetic dipole is in line with the most probable southward direction of the IMF. This dipole orientation is most favorable for the merging process and hence for the solar wind energy input to the magnetosphere. The direction of the SW flow in the Parker spiral is assumed to be the most probable direction about which the IMF fluctuates. Therefore the controlling parameter is the angle ? between the Z axis of the GSM coordinate system and the solar equatorial plane [Russell and McPherron, 1973]. This angle varies over a range from about 52° at equinoxes to 900 at solstice. When the angle ? reaches minimum value of 52°, which occurs on April 5 at 2230 UT and on October 8 at 1030 UT, the geomagnetic activity is expected to be at its maximum, because at these times the solar wind magnetic field lying entirely in the sun’s equatorial plane has its maximum projection on the Z axis of the GSM coordinate system. The Russell and McPherron [1973] model predicts both seasonal and diurnal variations of geomagnetic activity and suggests that the spring maximum in activity is associated on average with the IMF directed toward the sun and the fall maximum with IMF directed away from the sun. As the IMF polarity varies with the 22-year magnetic solar cycle, the RM mechanism predicts stronger spring maximum for one 11-year solar cycle and stronger fall maximum for another 11-year solar cycle. The RM mechanism is dependent on both tilt of the sun’s rotation axis and earth’s dipole axis with respect to the ecliptic plane and may be considered as a combination of the axial and the equinoctial mechanisms. Fig. 4.1 shows a) the plot of the ? angle, the controlling parameter in the equinoctial model, and b) the ? angle, the controlling parameter in the RM model as functions of months and UT hours (from Cliver et al. [2000]). It is evident that both models predict the increase in geomagnetic activity near equinoxes for daily averaged data. 77 Figure 4.1. A contour plot in degrees of the seasonal and diurnal variations of the controlling parameters in a) equinoctial model and b) Russell-McPherron model. [from Cliver et al., 2000] The equinoctial model (a) predicts maxima of the geomagnetic activity near the largest ? [McIntosh, 1959]; this occurs at equinoxes. The RM model predicts maxima of the geomagnetic activity near the smallest ? [Russell and McPherron, 1973]. The equinoctial model (a) predicts larger UT variation at solstices, but the RM model (b) predicts larger UT variation at equinoxes. The equinoctial model (a) predicts maxima of geomagnetic activity for monthly averages at 1100 and 2300 UT (when ? is the largest). The RM model predicts maxima of geomagnetic activity for monthly averages also at 1100 and 2300 UT when the ? angle is the smallest. The UT variation predicted by the RM model (Fig. 4.1b) has a phase lag of about 6 hours as compared to prediction by the equinoctial model (Fig. 4.1a). The reasons for this phase lag have been discussed in detail by Russell and McPherron [1973]. The UT variations of both angles depend on seasons. At present there are no dou

A flame is an exothermic, self-sustaining, oxidizing chemical reaction producing energy and glowing hot matter, of which a very small portion is plasma. It consists of reacting gases and solids emitting visible and infrared light, the frequency spectrum of which depends on the chemical composition of the burning elements and intermediate reaction products. The color of a flame depends on temperature. For a forest fire, near the ground the fire is white or yellow, above the yellow region, the color changes to orange, which is cooler, then red, which is cooler still. Above the red region, combustion no longer occurs, and the uncombusted carbon particles are visible as black smoke. The distribution of a flame depends on convection, as soot tends to rise to the top of a general flame, as in a candle, making it yellow. In zero gravity, such as in outer space, convection no longer occurs, and the flame becomes spherical, with a tendency to become more blue and more efficient although it will go out if not moved as the CO2 does not disperse. A possible explanation is that the temperature is evenly distributed enough that soot is not formed and complete combustion occurs. Lightning is an example of plasma. Typically, lightning discharges 30,000 amperes, at up to 100 million volts, and emits light, radio waves, x-rays and even gamma rays. Plasma temperatures in lightning can approach ~27,700°C and electron densities may exceed 10²⁴/m³.

Diagram of Null-Null Line

Magnetic field structure within the plasma flow reversal region. The magnetic field lines are shown in purple, the plasma flow vectors are in green, and the current disruption sites are in red.

Largest reconnection X-line found in the solar wind between the Sun and the Earth (white line). The plasma jets directions associated with the magnetic reconnection process are symbolised by red arrows embedded in the jets (colour coded in orange).

Strahl, and the Day the Solar Wind Disappeared

Electron velocity distribution function in the solar wind. Note the distinct , a suprathermal population carrying the heat flux together with the halo, the hotter isotropic component which is slightly displaced with respect to the maximum of the core part (indicated in red).
Below: Radial decline (increase) of the number of strahl (halo) electrons with heliocentric distance from the Sun.

Electron velocity distribution functions as energy spectra (top) and velocity space contours (bottom) for fast solar wind.
Note the core-halo structure and the strahl of suprathermal electrons in fast solar wind.

Data visualization of the X ray emissions over the North Pole during the polar rain of electrons on May 11, 1999.

Images in visible light compare the northern auroral regions on May 11 and a more typical day on November 13, 1999

When the density dropped the magnetosphere grew to exceptionally large dimensions (100 times its typical volume) as the solar wind decayed. Another feature was the appearance of highly energetic flows of electrons parallel to the direction of the magnetic field in the vicinity of Earth. These so-called ‘strahl’ electrons (red arrows) are continuously emitted by the Sun but their flow is usually disrupted by the solar wind, making their fluxes weak near Earth. One surprise in this event was how brightly the Earth’s northern polar cap emitted X-rays in response to the strong strahl precipitation. Because the flow of strahl electrons was so strong, the event provided a uniquely clear demonstration of ‘magnetic reconnection’ between the Earth’s field and the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF; yellow lines in Fig. 1) — the part of the Sun’s magnetic field that is carried by the solar wind. Reconnection produces ‘open’ magnetic field lines that directly connect the magnetosphere with interplanetary space. Because the IMF was pointing away from the Sun during this event, open field lines in the Northern Hemisphere were connected directly to the Sun, whereas those in the southern polar cap were connected to the outer heliosphere — a region of space around the Sun that stretches well beyond Pluto (Fig. 1a). As a result, strahl electrons from the Sun flooded directly into the northern polar cap, but not into the south. This was an outstanding re-verification of an early prediction of reconnection theory. Because the strahl entered the magnetosphere by flowing along field lines, the strahl in the northern polar cap shows which of Earth’s field lines are open. Satellites flying over the polar caps saw pairs of field-aligned currents that, at first sight, appeared to be the normal response to magnetospheric reconnection with the IMF. However, we would expect these to be on closed field lines and, although this was true for the currents near dawn in both hemispheres, near dusk in the Northern Hemisphere they were on open field lines. This can be explained by an extreme rotation of the low-altitude signatures of the reconnection site XS (see Fig. 1a) from noon to dusk. This is consistent with the solarwind proton precipitation seen at dusk. Small shifts of this ‘cusp’ in local time had been predicted, but the magnitude of the shift in this case was a surprise, and may have arisen because the magnetic field in the outer regions of the enlarged magnetosphere was weak. The field-aligned currents at dusk were found to be strong in the Northern Hemisphere, but entirely absent from the south. It seems that this asymmetry cannot be due to the lack of sunlight in the winter (southern) polar cap because the dawn currents were not similarly suppressed. The IMF orientation observed, with components away from the Sun and northward, favours the Northern Hemisphere for a second type of reconnection at a higher-latitude site such as X_LN in Fig. 1b. There is no signature of this in the southern polar cap, which offers an alternative explanation of the hemispheric asymmetry. The surprise is that both types of reconnection appear to have taken place simultaneously for an extended period. This may have been possible because the reconnection at XS that generates the new open flux was shifted to the dusk flank, whereas the reconnection of already open flux at X _LN may have taken place nearer noon. This stored energy drops when the tail expands because of reduced thermal pressure of the solar wind. Only reconnection that generates new open flux (as in Fig. 1a but not in Fig. 1b) increases the stored energy, and during this event the harmful electrons decayed away to very low fluxes and took longer than expected to recover to normal values.

Two possible ways in which the IMF can interconnect with Earth’s magnetospheric field.

The plasmasphere

The Structure and Dynamics of Magnetospheres and Their Coupling to Adjacent Regions

The influence of the solar wind on the magnetosphere creates Kelvin-Helmholtz surface waves along the magnetopause and induces magnetic field line resonance.

Kelvin-Helmholtz vortices on the dawnside of the magnetosphere boundary layer (left).

Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities with KH vortices at the duskside magnetopause (right).

Possible plasma entry mechanisms into the magnetosphere include diffusion and magnetic reconnection.
The steady merging of solar wind and magnetospheric magnetic fields, once thought to be the predominant entry process, does not seem to be sufficient to account for all of the features suggested by data. The simple picture of steady-state merging has been replaced by one of transient, patchy, and small-scale merging with associated current systems that map to the polar cap and churn up the ionosphere.
The evidence for reconnection at the magnetopause is very strong, although the microphysics of the reconnection process is still not understood. The interaction of the solar wind with the magnetosphere also sets up a convection system whereby plasma and "frozen-in" magnetic field lines flow from the dayside of the magnetosphere to the tail and then return to the dayside.
While the large-scale flow features have been confirmed by observations in the polar ionosphere, the specifics of the flow patterns throughout the magnetosphere are lacking. As would be expected when the input is transient, the convection is not steady. In fact, recent studies indicate that plasma flow in the magnetotail is usually bursty and irregular.
Two examples of dynamic processes that involve dramatic changes in the entire magnetosphere are magnetic storms and substorms. A magnetic storm is a period of enhanced geomagnetic activity, typically lasting many hours to days. During this period, particles are injected into the outer Van Allen belts to form an intense magnetospheric ring current that depresses the geomagnetic field at low latitudes.
A portion of the ring current connects with the ionosphere, where it produces intense magnetic perturbations. Large magnetic storms can cause significant changes in the inner magnetosphere that are intimately associated with the lowest-latitude occurrences of the aurora. For example, recent observations of the sudden formation of a "belt" of very energetic particles (tens of MeV) show that large magnetic storms can cause major, long-lived changes deep in the inner magnetosphere.
Magnetic storms and substorms cause loss of communication satellites, disruption of radio communications and interruption of electric power to consumers due to power-grid failures. Many aspects of magnetic storms are either poorly understood or not known. These include magnetic storm effects on the geomagnetic tail configuration, the sequential progression of solar wind entry, and the energization of plasma from the ionosphere during storms.
In a substorm, the energy stored in the magnetic field of the tail is released explosively. The most frequently discussed substorm model has been magnetic reconnection in the region between 10 and 30 Earth radii downstream of the Earth. However, recent observations of substorms that are triggered on field lines at distances of 6 to 10 Earth radii seriously challenge this. Moreover, the recent plasma observations at synchronous orbit show very different features from the familiar energetic-particle injections during substorms and are providing new views of the dynamics of energy transport into the inner magnetosphere.
These observations are not fully understood. The types of physical processes that occur in the near-Earth magnetotail region during substorms remain one of the major unresolved issues of magnetospheric physics.
During substorms about 10% of the energy transferred from the solar wind into the magnetosphere is deposited in the auroral ionosphere. A significant fraction is deposited in the ring current and the midlatitude atmosphere, and some is also convected through the magnetopause into the magnetosheath. Studies of the deep tail indicate that the rest of the energy flows down the tail and eventually back into the solar wind.
The coupling process between the magnetosphere and the ionosphere is complex and highly variable. Large-scale current systems, precipitating charged particles, and electric fields are the intermediaries that transport a significant portion of the energy and momentum resulting from the solar wind/magnetosphere interaction into the ionosphere. Precipitating particles from the magnetosphere are the major source of ionization in nightside midlatitude and polar regions. Those particles consist of keV ions and electrons in the auroral zone, lower-energy ions and electrons in the polar cap regions, and relativistic electrons and ions at tens to hundreds of keV at subauroral latitudes.
Currents and electric fields in the magnetosphere also play an important role in the magnetosphere-ionosphere (MI) coupling. The million-ampere magnetospheric currents flow into the ionosphere where they heat the thermal plasma and neutral gas. The ionization level governs the conductivity of the ionosphere and establishes the relationship between current and electric field.
Magnetospheric energy is dissipated in the neutral atmospheric constituents in three ways:
(1) heating due to particle precipitation
(2) heating from the dissipation of currents
(3) energy and momentum transfer to the neutral molecules from collisions with ionospheric ions drifting in electric fields. The resulting changes can lead to feedback effects in the magnetosphere. For example, the large-scale winds of neutral gas that persist even after the magnetospheric driver is turned off can drag ions across magnetic fields and may modify and even create new electric fields and current patterns in the magnetosphere.
Another MI coupling effect comes from the flow of a large number of ionospheric ions up along the magnetic field lines into the magnetosphere. These ions become energized by processes as yet unidentified and could play important roles in MI coupling and magnetic storm and substorm dynamics.
Not much is known about the transport processes in other planetary magnetospheres. The intense auroral emission observed from the jovian polar regions indicates robust MI coupling, but the identity of the precipitating particles (electrons, protons, oxygen or sulfur ions from Io) responsible for those emissions and the energy distribution of the particles have not yet been discovered.
Researchers are even further away from knowing what acceleration mechanisms operate. The dependence of outer planetary aurora on solar wind coupling as opposed to internal dynamics, such as planetary rotation and interaction with satellites, is not yet established.

Above: Artist's conception of the saturnian magnetosphere, including major plasma structures and sources and sinks of ions from the solar wind, Saturn, and its rings and satellites

http://www.nas.edu/ssb/strach3.html#fig8

Geomagnetic Cyclic Variability

[Magnetosphere Moviemagneticfield_mpeg.mpg] [Magnetosphere MovieMagnetosphereAng.mov] [Magnetosphere Moviefinal3.mov] [Magnetosphere Movierecon.mpeg] [nnnnnnnMagnetosphere Moviemagneticfield_mpeg.mpg]

Above: Magnetosphere Animation - As plasma from a solar storm impacts the Earth's magnetic field, oxygen ions are immediately ejected from the polar Ionosphere in response to the bursts of heating caused by the massive electrical current generated. The ejected ions flow outwrd along Earth's magnetic field lines toward the geotail. The pressure from the solar wind stretches the magnetic field toward the night-side of the Earth like a rubberband. When the stretching becomes too great, the night-side magnetosphere snaps back toward the Earth, carrying the ejected ions from the ionosphere with it like an enormous slingshot. These ions, now accelerated to enormous velocities (about 2,500 miles or 4,000 km/per second), appear immediately in the auroa and in the cloud of hot plasma that encircles the Earth during space storms.

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[Magnetosphere Movie] [Ion Outflow Movie] [Expelled Ion Flow] [Auroral Circuit Movie] [IMAGE Spacecraft Movie]

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