Earth's Magnetosphere

Date: 13 Dec 2004
Satellite: Cluster
Depicts: Diagram of Earth's magnetosphere with Cluster orbit
Copyright: ESA

At the nightside of the Earth, the magnetospheric tail is composed of three main regions:

• A "plasma sheet" centred on the equator, with a weak magnetic field and a typical density of ~0.5 particles per cc
• Two tail lobes regions located north and south of the plasma sheet with a very low density of ~0.01 particles per cc but with a more intense magnetic field.