Earth's magnetosphere, illustration

Earth's magnetosphere. Illustration of the Earth (centre left) and its radiation belts (red and pink) and magnetosphere (purple, magnetic axis in red) protecting it from cosmic radiation and the solar wind. One such radiation belt is the Van Allen radiation belt, a torus of ionised particles that surrounds the Earth, trapped by its magnetic field. The belt extends from an altitude of about 1000 to 60,000 kilometres above the surface. The Earth's magnetic field that is compressed into a bow shock (light blue) on the side facing the Sun, and trails away from the Sun on the other side of the Earth, forming the magnetotail. Most of the charged particles from the Sun are diverted around the Earth (orange arrows). Some are trapped and guided (blue arrows) by the Earth's magnetic field towards the polar regions, where they impact the atmosphere and cause the aurorae (northern and southern lights).