Astro Viz | Earth’s Magnetic Shield

Life on Earth depends on light and heat from the Sun. But the Sun emits more than just light and heat. Tiny particles—mostly protons and electrons—stream away from the Sun in a "solar wind" that can reach speeds of more than a million kilometers an hour. See how scientists are modeling interactions between solar winds and Earth’s magnetosphere, the magnetic shield generated by our planet’s rotation and molten core, which protects us from the full impact of these supersonic particles.

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