Most cool Van Allen belt video, yes Earth is a machine just like the pyramids :-) A radiation belt is a layer of energetic charged particles that is held in place around a magnetized planet, such as the Earth, by the planets magnetic field. The Earth has two such belts and sometimes others may be temporarily created. The discovery of the belts is credited to James Van Allen and as a result the Earths belts bear his name. The main belts extend from an altitude of about 1,000 to 60,000 kilometers above the surface in which region radiation levels vary. Most of the particles that form the belts are thought to come from solar wind and other particles by cosmic rays.[1] The belts are located in the inner region of the Earths magnetosphere. The belts contain energetic electrons that form the outer belt and a combination of protons and electrons that form the inner belt. The radiation belts additionally contain lesser amounts of other nuclei, such as alpha particles. The belts endanger satellites, which must protect their sensitive components with adequate shielding if their orbit spends significant time in the radiation belts. In 2013, NASA reported that the Van Allen Probes had discovered a transient, third radiation belt, which was observed for four weeks until destroyed by a powerful, interplanetary shock wave from the Sun.[2] upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/21/Van_Allen_Belts.ogv/Van_Allen_Belts.ogv.480p.webm
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 03:45:06 +0000
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