Van Allen radiation belt
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The Van Allen radiation belt is a zone of energetic charged particles, most of which originate from solar wind, that are captured and held around a planet by that planet's magnetosphere. Earth has two
Jupiter's variable radiation belts
Cutaway drawing of two radiation belts around Earth: the inner belt (red) dominated by protons and the outer one (blue) by electrons. Image Credit: NASA
Laboratory simulation of the Van Allen belt's influence on the Solar Wind; these aurora-like Birkeland currents were created by the scientist Kristian Birkeland in his terrella, a magnetized anode globe in an evacuated chamber
James Van Allen
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James Alfred Van Allen was an American space physicist at the University of Iowa who was instrumental in establishing the field of magnetospheric research in space. His discovery of the Van Allen radi
Van Allen radiation belt
…around a planet by that planet's magnetosphere. Earth has two such belts, and sometimes others may be temporarily created. The belts are named after James Van Allen, who published an article describing the belts in 1958. Earth's two main belts extend from an altitude of about 640 to 58,000 km (400 to 36,040 mi…
Van Allen at the National Air and Space Museum, 1977
Model of Van Allen Radiation Belts, Credit: NASA
Pickering, Van Allen, and Von Braun at the IGY news conference, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C.
Van Allen alongside physicist Edward Smith at a Pioneer 11 press conference, 1974