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ShareThe Van Allen radiation belt is a torus of energetic charged particles (i.e.
a plasma) around Earth, trapped by Earth's magnetic field.
When the belts "overload", particles strike the upper atmosphere and fluoresce, causing the polar aurora.
For more information about the topic Van Allen radiation belt, read the full article at Wikipedia.org, or see the following related articles:
Magnetosphere — A magnetosphere is the region around an astronomical object in which phenomena are dominated or organized by its magnetic field. Earth is surrounded ... > read more
Asteroid belt — The asteroid belt is a region of the solar system falling roughly between the planets Mars and Jupiter where the greatest concentration of asteroid ... > read more
Gas giant — A gas giant is a large planet that is not primarily composed of rock or other solid matter. Gas giants may have a rocky or metallic core—in ... > read more
Aurora (astronomy) — The aurora is a glow observed in the night sky, usually in the polar zone. It is also known as "northern lights" or "aurora borealis," which is Latin ... > read moreNote: This page refers to an article that is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the article Van Allen radiation belt at Wikipedia.org. See the Wikipedia copyright page for more details.
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